


Just Keep Swimming

by Amateurhour87



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cruise Ships, Cruising, F/F, Olympics, Rivalry, Swimming, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:55:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23477335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amateurhour87/pseuds/Amateurhour87
Summary: "Life is like swimming. Sometimes you hit the wall, sometimes you make the right turn"Clarke and Lexa are swimming rivals.They've never got along, their friends have never got along and now they're all stuck on the same cruise ship for Lincoln and Octavia's wedding.I suck at summaries, but give it a try.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin & Lexa, Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Octavia Blake/Lincoln
Comments: 98
Kudos: 221





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I originally posted this story in 2019 and never got around to completing it.
> 
> So I've decided to REPOST and continue the story now with some edits.
> 
> Let me know what you think :)

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

I like to convince myself that I live a relatively normal life, but my life is far from normal. 

“Hey...”

“Grif, where are you?”

“Sorry my flight was delayed. I've only just boarded”

I shouldn’t have let Jaha convince me it was a good idea to train this morning.

A mad dash from the airport to the dock isn't the best way to start a trip.

“That's disappointing! I thought I was going to have this sweet cabin all to myself…”

“Reyes don’t act like you wouldn’t be upset if I missed this cruise!”

This is the longest Raven and I have been apart since we met in middle school. 

“Okay maybe I would be a little upset..."

When she says that I smile. 

"But you really do need to hurry up!"

“I’m two minutes away Rey and when I get there we can go to any bar you want and drink any drink you want”

I’m going to regret saying that.

“Perfect!”

* * *

“So how’s life in Phoenix going?”

When Raven hands me an unnecessarily large cocktail, I smile. 

“It’s okay”

It’s different.

"Clarke can you please hold back on all that excitement, you're making me very jealous!"

I've really missed having her around.

“I'm there to swim Rey! I’m up at the crack of dawn swimming lap after lap and then I’m back in the afternoon doing it all over again”

“Isn’t that what always happens?”

“Yeah, but now I’m stuck doing it in the middle of the desert and it’s a lot less exciting”

Swimming isn’t an easy sport to be involved in.

There’s no teammates to pick you up when you’re down or to cover for you when your head isn’t in the right place.

Your success and your failures all fall back on you. 

“Clarke it's sounds like this trip has come at the perfect time for you?”

"I was literally counting down the days Rey, my calendar is covered in big black crosses..."

"That bad?"

"Worse!"

My tolerance for Jaha is at an all time low.

"Jaha keeps calling Vegas the city of light and he won’t shut up about how hard we’re going to have to work to get there”

“The city of light!?”

I'd be laughing as well if I didn't have to spend so much time with him, but it’s hard to find anything he says or does amusing anymore. 

“He calls Vegas... “

She just snorted. 

“The city of light?”

“Yeah and apparently I’m committing career suicide by coming on this trip!”

“Clarke I don’t know why you put up with his shit all of the time?”

“I don’t really have much of a choice Rey, switching coaches this close to nationals would be insane!”

“Can't you just come back to LA and train with Indra?”

Now I’m laughing as well.

“Raven that was a joke right?”

She’s smiling. 

"Okay maybe not Indra, but surely there’s someone suitable in LA that can free you from Jaha and save you from the desert?”

This drink is going down a lot faster than it probably should. 

“I wish it was that simple Rey, but I can’t change coaches this close to a meet...”

“Why not!? You have Nationals next month and you're on a cruise ship drinking cocktails..."

She makes a very good point. 

"I’m pretty sure you’re not following the Clarke Griffin guide to swimming these days!?”

That's true.

"It's complicated"

* * *

“Hi, what I can get you?”

“I’ll just grab two Cosmo’s please...”

“Make that three!”

Every time we bump into each other, it doesn’t matter if it’s unexpected or if I’m expecting her, my eyes instinctively roll to the back of my head. 

“Hello Clarke...”

When I look over to where she's standing I’m greeted with a rather irritating smirk. 

“Griffin this lovely reception that you always give me, really makes my heart flutter”

When she starts tapping her heart, it happens again. I really need to get better control of my eyes.

“Two eye rolls in under a minute Clarke, that must be some kind of record!?”

“Lexa is there a point to this incredible conversation that we’re having? Because if there isn't, I’m just going to grab my drinks and head back to the pool”

When I reach for my drinks she stops me. 

“It’s a hard habit to break Clarke, but I do have a point...”

She always over pronounces the 'k' in my name. 

“I haven’t seen you since everything that happened with your dad and I just wanted to come over here and pass on my condolences... He seemed like a really great guy and I’m really sorry you had to go through all of that”

"Thanks Lexa... I ahh..."

I never know what to say when people bring up everything that happened with my dad. 

“I should probably go give Raven her drink”

Growing up I was obsessed with basketball, but when I started at Arcadia my interest quickly switched to swimming.

In my first competitive race I finished sixth and in that same race Lexa swam for Polis and won convincingly.

Everything that could of went wrong, went wrong that day.

I missed my start, I butchered my turn and when I dragged myself out of the water, I wanted to quit, but I couldn't.

I'd made a promise to my dad that I intended on keeping.

It's a promise I'm still keeping today.

"Did you just have a civilised conversation with Lexa?"

"She was passing on her condolences…"

"Ohhh..."

"Rey can you believe we're actually doing this!? We're all stuck together on the same ship!"

It's insane.

"We're not just on the same ship Grif, we're in the same travelling party and O's about to marry her cousin!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

Today has felt like it’s gone a lot longer than a normal day.

I'm exhausted.

The sun hasn’t even gone down yet and I’m already thinking about how amazing sleep would be.

I could happily climb into bed right now and sleep the rest of the day away.

“Clarke Abigail Griffin!”

“Octavia ‘no middle name' Blake!”

When she flings herself into my arms, I stumble backwards.

Octavia’s always been a lot stronger than she looks.

“I have missed you so much…”

“Don’t get all sloppy on me Blake!”

I was starting to think Raven and I were the only two on this ship.

“How was your flight Grif?”

“We were delayed, so it made the dash from the airport to the dock a lot more exciting than it needed to be, but I made it…”

“And I’m so glad you did!”

When she lets go of me I notice the three drinks she has lined up by the door.

“I brought alcohol!”

If my liver could speak right now it would be screaming at me to stop drinking.

I haven’t drank this excessively since I was in college and even then I was always the more responsible one in the group.  
  


  
Hangovers and early morning swim sessions never go well together.

“So are you going to let me in or are you going to leave me out in the hallway?”

When I hold the door back so she can walk into the room she hands me one of the drinks.

“Thanks O!”

All I’ve drank this afternoon is cocktails and vodka mixes, so this bourbon will be a nice change.

“I’m so glad this isn't another cocktail....”

"Is that what Raven's had you drinking all afternoon?"

"Pretty much, we've had Cosmo's, Long Island Iced Teas and basically anything on the menu that had Vodka in it..."

"That sounds like a lot of sugar!?"

"It was and they were refreshing drinks when I was sitting in the sun drinking them, but then we left the outside decks and came back inside and it hit me!"

I didn't feel drunk at all when we were sitting by the pool, but then it hit me like a tonne of bricks when we were walking back to the cabin.

"I'm definitely a lot drunker than I was expecting to be this early into the trip... but that's bound to happen when one of your best friends ditches you for their fiancé and leaves you alone with your other best friend who likes to drink excessively large cocktails..."

"I'm sorry, but have I told you how glad I am that you're here? This trip would not be the same without you Grif...”

“O, there's honestly nowhere else I’d rather be”

I really needed this time away.

“Not even in a pool back in Arizona training for the biggest swim meet of your life?”

“Not even there O!”

It’s not every day that one of your best friends gets married or in this case is about to get married and is celebrating her last few days of freedom with her fiancé and her closest friends on a cruise ship headed for Mexico.

“So, where’s Raven?”

“That’s her making all of the noise in the bathroom…”

She was just using the hairdryer, so she should be nearly done.

"She should be ready any minute now"

When she turns around and starts banging on the bathroom door I smile.

“HURRY UP REYES!”

I've really missed the two of them these last couple of months.

Why did I ever agree to move interstate for swimming?

“WELL LOOK WHO DECIDED TO SHOW HER FACE!”

When Raven pokes her head out from behind the bathroom door I laugh.

“O, it's good to see that you've finally decided to jump off Lincoln and come see your friends?”

“Lincoln can be very convincing when he wants to be!”

I bet he can, but Octavia wouldn't need much convincing.

“How are you two still so obsessed with each other after all this time? It’s disgusting!”

“Raven if you saw him naked you’d understand!”

Lincoln’s a very attractive guy if you’re into that kind of thing, so I can see the appeal, but I’m with Raven on this one.  
  
  
  
They’re so in love that it's disgusting and sweet at the same time.

“Just hurry up and get ready Reyes I’m starving!”

When Raven slips back into the bathroom and lets the door shut behind her I move so I'm sitting on the edge of the bed.

“So where’s Lincoln now?”

“He’s gone to grab dinner with Lexa and Anya. They’re going to meet us at the bar later...”

That makes sense.

“And Bellamy and Finn?”

“They’re getting ready now and I told them we’d knock on their cabin doors on the way to dinner…”

“Doors plural? Aren't they sharing a cabin?”

I thought they’d be rooming together like Raven and I are.

“No, those two idiots think they’re going to find someone ‘stupid’ enough to sleep with them so they’ve booked private cabins”

When she puts a little extra emphasis on the word 'stupid' I laugh.

“O, do I need to change what I'm wearing?”

I'm dressed very casually and this is my first time cruising, so I have no idea how any of this works.  
  


  
Am I meant to make myself look more presentable or does everyone just dress casually?

“You look hot Clarke!”

“I’m wearing jeans and a t-shirt O, it’s hardly hot!”

“You always look good Grif and what you’re wearing is fine”

That's good, because I’m living out of a suitcase on this trip and I wasn't overly motivated to pull it apart and find another outfit.

“So what’s the plan after dinner O, where are we off to?”

Octavia likes to plan ahead, so I'd be really surprised if she hasn't already read the entire cruise activity schedule.

She'll know everything that's happening on this ship, where to go, where to eat.

“We’re going to some frog bar on level ten that has live music, pool tables and a bunch of other games…”

“Frog bar?”

That's a very weird name.

“It has a weird name, I think it’s the Red Frog Rum Bar or something like that… It’s right next to the sports bar and the casino”

We walked through the casino area earlier on the way back to our room.

"Okay I'm ready bitches!"

When Raven walks out of the bathroom I grab my cruise card from by my bed.

"Let's go eat"


	3. Chapter 3

**Lexa’s P.O.V**

"So why are you here Lexa?"

When she sits down beside me I'm a little suspicious, I don't think she's ever gone out of her way to talk to me before.

“Why am I here at this bar or why am I on this cruise?”

“It’s pretty obvious why you’re at the bar Lexa, but why are you on this cruise, you're obviously not thrilled to be here?"

When the waitress walks by I get her attention. 

“Fern can I grab another bourbon and coke please?"

I don't know what time it was when I sat down, but I've been sitting at this bar for a while now.

"Do you want something to drink Clarke?”

If someone had of told the high school version of me, that I'd be here on this cruise with Clarke Griffin and her friends, I never would have believed them.

“Yeah, I’ll grab the same thanks and I'll even pay!"

“Griffin did you lose a bet or something?”

She usually can't get away from me quick enough and now she's offering to buy me a drink?

"Lexa can we just pretend that this isn't weird?”

She’s smiling at me and she wants me to pretend that this isn’t weird?

This never happens.

She never goes out of her way to sit with me and she definitely doesn’t smile at me when I’m around.

But I'm a curious person and she has me a little curious, so I’ll play along.

"Who are you hiding from Griffin?”

"I'm not hiding..."

"Is it that Flynn guy?"

She has to be hiding from someone, it's the only thing that makes sense.

"His name is Finn and why would I be hiding from him specifically?"

"No reason"

He follows her around like a little lost puppy.

"Lexa I'm not hiding, I just needed a time out..."

"You're a horrible liar Griffin!"

She's definitely hiding.

"If you don't want to sleep with the guy Clarke, just tell him!"

"Lexa, I'm not even going to give you the satisfaction of responding to that comment"

It's impossible not to laugh when she's looking at me the way that she is.

This look she's giving me right now, is the look I usually get from her.

Less of the smiling and more of the I can't stand the sight of you.

“Okay but are you gay or straight these days?"

"Lexa are you trying to annoy me so that I leave?"

“No, I’m curious…”

“Well curiosity killed the cat!”

“Wow!”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone born after 1940 use that phrase before.

“Clarke I didn’t think people under eighty used that phrase!?”

When Fern places our drinks down on the bar, I reach for my cruise card that's sitting by my glass. but she beats me to it.

"You're actually going to pay for my drink?”

We’re definitely ticking off a lot of firsts tonight.

“Lexa you’re painful to be around…”

I watch her as she signs the receipt Fern left on the bar.

“Normal people just say thank you and take the drink”

I promised Lincoln I’d make an effort, so I should probably starting doing that now, before she genuinely gets mad and all hell breaks loose.

“You’re right Clarke and I’m sorry… Thank you for my drink!”

The words have barely left my mouth and I’m already starting to regret them.

“Lexa, did I just hear that right?”

She's smirking at me. Why did I apologise to her?

“Did you really just apologise to me?”

“I did, but it wasn’t a sincere apology…”

“What’s the date today, I need to write this moment down in my diary?”

“Clarke are you sure you’re not an eighty year old lady trapped inside a twenty two year old body?... ‘Curiosity killed the cat’… ‘I’m going to write this moment down in my diary’…”

When I start mimicking her she laughs.

“Whatever Lexa and you were right before…”

I was?

“I am out here hiding from Finn…”

That was obvious, but I'm still surprised she admitted it.

“He’s drunk and he keeps talking about things I really don't want to talk about…”

“He’s trying to fuck you Clarke, he wants to get in your pants!"

“Lexa do you have to be so crass?”

“I’m sorry, are you a prude?”

When she rolls her eyes at me, I smile.

She does that a lot.

“Lexa I’m just not ready to talk about certain things yet, that’s why I’m out here and I’m hiding from Finn because he’s drunk and when he gets drunk he’s a big fan of deep and meaningful conversations that I don’t want to have… So I’m sitting here listening to you talk shit about my sexual preferences and listening to you call me a prude, because as painful as you are to listen to you, it’s strangely therapeutic…”

I watch her as she finishes what's left in her drink and raises her hand to get Fern's attention.

“You’re an ass Lexa! You’re obnoxious, you’re arrogant and you really are painful to be around, but you remind me of a time in my life when everything was a lot less complicated, that’s why I sat down… Do you want another drink?”

“I ahhh…”

I’m still only half way through the first one we ordered.

“What can I get you two?"

"Another two bourbons thanks Fern"

When Fern walks away to start preparing our drinks I look back over at Clarke.

“I’m gay by the way… I’m gay, I don’t sleep with my friends and I’m not a prude, I just choose not to discuss my sex life with people who get a kick out of winding me up… Lexa does that answer all of your questions for you?"

What is happening?

Am I stuck in an alternate universe where she doesn't hate me, where she's happy to reveal this kind of information to me?

What is Fern putting in these drinks?

“Clarke I’m pretty sure that covers everything, but just so there’s total clarity between us…”

This has been a very strange evening.

“I wasn't asking you about your sexuality to wind you up and I only commented on your friend Flynn because he wants to fu…sorry sleep with you and you seem to be missing that piece of the puzzle…”

“Lexa I’m not missing that piece of the puzzle”

“Okay well we should probably talk about something else now, because Lincoln will be pissed if this conversation ends with you genuinely being mad at me..."

“Did he ask you to play nice?”

“He may have made certain requests…”

“Well Lexa I want it on record that you’ve done a horrible job of it so far!”

I wouldn’t say it’s been entirely horrible.

“Clarke I offered to buy you a drink!”

“Which you let me pay for...”

"You offered to pay and I'll be buying this round that Fern is bringing over now"

When Fern puts our new drinks down on the bar I hand her my cruise card.

“Thank you Fern”

It’s pretty late and all of this alcohol is starting to catch up to me.

I should probably call it a night soon.

“Lexa do you… never mind!”

I watch her as she grabs one of the drinks from the bar and finishes the whole thing in one go.

“Clarke, are you alright?”

"Do you want to get out of here?"

I don’t think I’ve ever been as shocked as I am right now.

I’m pretty sure my jaw is actually touching the floor.

“Clarke.. I… I ummm...”

What is happening?

“I’m not asking you to sleep with me Lexa, I’m just asking you to leave this particular area”

Well that certainly makes a lot more sense.

“Clarke you had me very confused for a second…”

“I just want to go somewhere that's away from here, that has food and alcohol on the menu..."

“You must be really desperate to hide from him!?”

“I am, so finish your drink and let’s go!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Lexa’s P.O.V**

I’m meant to be watching what I’m eating and I’m sitting at a late night pizza bar drinking bourbon and eating pizza that is loadedwith cheese.

This hasn’t been a great start to my trip health wise.

“Griffin, are you planning on getting any of that in your mouth?”

I'm about to give up on mine, this pizza is incredibly messy to eat.

“Is it all over my face?”

“I’m pretty sure there’s more on your face right now than there is on your plate!”

She has a small amount of sauce on her cheek, it's definitely not all over her face.

“Lexa is it not a good look? Should I get rid of it?"

When she's pulls a weird face, it's impossible not laugh.

“This is a monumental day for us Lexa, you’re actually enjoying my company”

I watch her as she grabs a napkin from next to her plate.

“Is it gone?”

When she waves her hand in front of her face, I smile.

“It is”

I have no idea how we've got to this point.

We're willingly sitting opposite each other and I'm making sure she doesn't have any food on her face.

“Lexa do you ever wonder what it would of been like if we grew up in different neighbourhoods or went to different high schools?”

I can’t really imagine our lives being any different to how they are now and how they have been.

“Clarke I don’t really like to dwell on things I have no control over…”

“I’m not asking you to dwell Lexa, I’m just curious… Do you think we would of got along if circumstances were different?”

“We’re very different…”

“Why because I grew up in Arcadia and you grew up in Polis?”

I didn’t say that.

“No, because you’re you and I’m me!”

I watch her as she takes another sip of her drink.

“Lexa you love to hate me, don’t you? You get a kick out of it!”

That would be very sadistic of me if that was the reason why we've never got along.

“I’ve never hated you Clarke and if I’m being honest with you, I wouldn’t be where I am today without you…”

If she hadn’t of started swimming for Arcadia, my life would be very different.

“I was going to quit at the end of my freshmen year, but Indra convinced me to stick it out for another year…”

Indra thought I was burnt out and just needed time to find my love for swimming again, but I wasn't burnt out, I was unmotivated.

“My final race was going to be the last race of our sophomore season..."

I was undefeated when that race started and my previous races hadn’t even been close..

"And then this annoying blonde girl swimming for Arcadia touched the wall first and I suddenly had new motivation!"

At the time I wasn't happy that she'd won, but her winning that race gave me a reason to keep swimming.

“So no Clarke, I don’t get a kick out of hating you!”

She made swimming interesting again.

“You were going to quit?”

"I was..."

“Wow!... Lexa I never knew that…”

“Clarke how could you have ever known that?”

“I don't know, but you pretty much owe your whole career to me!”

When she says that I laugh.

“You’re forever indebted to me Lexa, I’m the reason you are where you are!”

"Clarke, that's ridiculous even for you!"

When she leans back into the booth with a smug look on her face I shake my head.

“Alright back on topic... It’s 2012, we’re not swimmers and I’ve just enrolled at Polis High, do you say hi?”

We can't change the past, so why does it matter?

“Really Clarke?”

“Just play along Lexa…”

“Were you attractive in 2012 and what kind of personality did you have?”

If we’re going to live in her little fantasy land, I’m going to need all the necessary information before answering.

“You don’t get to know someones personality when you first meet them…”

“That’s fair, but were you attractive in 2012?”

“Why is that important?”

It's important information.

“It’s important because in this little fantasy land that you’ve created, I like to keep to myself and I don't go out of my way to talk to the new students who have just enrolled at Polis... So if I'm introducing myself to you Clarke, I have an ulterior motive…”

When I wink at her she laughs.

“Lexa that’s very shallow of you, but I’ll play along… I look the same as I do now”

There’s been a lot of laughing and smiling tonight, a therapist would tell us we’ve made great progress.

“I’d say hi to you Clarke, but then you’d open that mouth of yours and I’d quickly lose interest”

The way she looks is one thing I can’t fault about her.

“Lexa in a round about way you just admitted that you find me attractive”

When she says that I quickly finish the rest of my drink.

“Clarke do you want another drink?”

I’m meant to be working out tomorrow morning, but that’s looking less and less likely with every drink that we buy.

“Yeah but it’s my round, so I’ll go”


	5. Chapter 5

**Lexa’s P.O.V**

“Hey…”

I've done my fair share of unexpected and crazy things under the influence of alcohol before, but last night has jumped straight to the top of the list. 

“Clarke, what time is it?”

It's still dark out and I feel like I haven't slept at all.

I'm guessing it's early, really early.

"It's just after four, I was ahh... I was just about to leave”

I watch her as she moves so she's sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Lexa, can we not make this weird?”

I'm not sure it's possible for this not to be weird, we spent the night together and she's sitting on the edge of my bed half naked.

It's definitely a little weird.

“Clarke I don’t want it to be weird either”

When I drag myself out of bed and throw on a shirt, my head feels a lot heavier than it did when I was lying down.

“Clarke what are you thinking right now?"

When she looks over to where I’m standing, she's smiling.

It's a slight smile, but it's definitely there.

"Lexa right now all I'm thinking about is how I can get my hands on some Advil, you don't have any do you?”

I reach across and grab the packet I left in the top drawer.

“Do you need water Clarke?”

"I'm okay…”

"I'll get you one anyway!”

I slowly walk over to the desk and grab the two bottles the housekeeper left earlier.

“Sorry they’re not cold, but it’s water…”

“Thanks”

I'm not really sure how we ended up drinking so much, but my body's already starting to regret it.

I feel like I'm stuck somewhere between drunk and sober and it isn't a very pleasant place to be.

The buzz is gone and all I'm feeling now is dehydrated.

"Lexa I bet you’re wishing that I’d left before you woke up?”

When she says that I smile.

“I don’t know about you Clarke, but I really enjoy having awkward conversations at 4AM, so I'm kind of glad that you're here!”

It's not nearly awkward as I thought it was going to be when I first woke up.

“Lexa you don’t look so great! Are you going to be sick?”

When she hops up and starts collecting her things, I move so I’m sitting on the end of the bed.

"Why are you going to take care of me if I am?"

"Lexa that definitely won't be happening!"

When she looks back over to where I'm sitting she's smirking.

"You're not actually going to be sick are you?"

“Clarke there's a chance I might fall asleep sitting upright, but I'm not going to be sick!"

I'm up early most days, but it's never this early and I usually haven't spent the night before drinking.

So I'm definitely struggling a little.

“Okay well I guess I’ll see you around…”

When she says that I start laughing.

“Really Clarke, you guess you’ll see me around!?”

Surely she can do better than that.

"That's the best you could come up with?"

"Lexa my preference would have been to leave before you woke up, but that wasn't possible"

I watch her as she grabs her cruise card from by the door.

"Bye Lexa and take some of that Advil you look like shit!"

She's laughing so I'm only mildly insulted.

"Clarke 'I guess I'll see you around' was lame, but definitely a lot nicer..."

"Well I tried the nicer option first Lexa and you laughed, so I just went with what felt right!"

When the door closes behind her I drop back down onto the bed.  
  
  
  
I'm not drinking that much again on this trip.  
  


* * *

  
"Hey…"

She has a strange look on her face. 

"Anya, why are you looking at me like that?”

"What's with the glasses Lexa?”

Why is it unusual that I’m wearing sunglasses?

“Anya it’s a sunny day and people wear sunglasses when it’s sunny!?”

“I thought you might have been trying to cover up a big night!”

I don't know how I did it, but when I woke up the second time I didn't feel hungover at all.

The extra sleep after Clarke left did me wonders.

“Anya, I wouldn't be eating this salad if I was hungover”

Everything they had at the lunch buffet looked a lot more appealing than my salad, but I'm meant to be watching what I'm eating and drinking and I didn't do that yesterday.  
  
  
  
So today I'm going to sit here and eat this salad, even if it was the least exciting thing they had at the buffet.

“Lexa, Indra will be very impressed!”

She definitely wouldn't be impressed if she found out about the late night pizza and the excessive amount of alcohol that I drank yesterday.

“Anya I drank my body weight in alcohol yesterday!”

When she starts laughing I stick my fork into my salad.

“Well Lexa you better get your ass to the gym and burn it all off or you’ll be dragging some extra weight through the pool when you get back!”

That’s the last thing I need and want to happen.  
  
  


My sessions with Indra are already going to be a nightmare when I get back, I don’t need to make things worse by over indulging and putting on extra weight.

“I've already been"

I went to the gym before I came here.

“So what’s your plan today Anya?”

“Pretty much the same as yesterday”

When she says that I laugh.

“Anya you’re not going to be able to pull that off again”

She didn't even last half an hour at the bar last night before she left.

“Lexa, Linc’s too whipped to worry about where I am and I did what he asked… I went to the bar, I ordered a drink and then I left... If he wanted me to be there longer, he should have specified how long!”

When she says that I smile.

“Anya I’m not sure that’s what he had in mind when he asked us to come on this trip…”

“I don’t really care what he had in mind, he knows this isn't going to work!”

Anya’s all bark and no bite when it comes to Lincoln.

She’d do anything for him, we both would, that’s why we’re here on this trip and not back in LA.

“Lexa it was actually painful being within a twenty metre radius of them last night, I don’t know how you did it…”

“I went to the sports bar not long after you left and then I didn’t go back”

That's not exactly how my night went, but it's how it started and it's probably best that I don't give Anya all of the details.  
  
  


I won't hear the end of it if I do.


	6. Chapter 6

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

“You’re being very quiet Grif, was the sex really that bad?”

Raven’s usually a heavy sleeper when she’s been drinking.

But last night I barely had one foot in the door and she was awake and asking questions.

“Rey I’ve already told you where I was…”

“I know you were sitting on level 11 eating pizza by yourself!”

When she uses her hands to do quotations I laugh.

“It’s a shit story Clarke and I’m insulted that you’d think I’d fall for it!”

The story I told her isn’t entirely untrue.

I did go to level 11 to grab pizza, I just didn’t go alone and it wasn’t at 4 o’clock in the morning.

“Grif on a scale of 1-10 how bad was the sex?”

It definitely wasn’t horrible.

“Rey I’d tell you if it was bad”

“So you’re basically admitting that it happened, but it wasn’t bad?”

I haven’t admitted to anything, but she’s right.

“Who was it Grif?”

There’s not a lot that Raven and I don’t share and I don't care if she knows that I slept with Lexa.

I’d just prefer it if she didn’t find out now, while we’re all stuck on this cruise together.

“Clarke why are you being so shy?”

When she playfully nudges me I shake my head.

"Rey it wasn’t bad and it wasn’t good... because it didn’t happen!”

Last night went from zero to hundred very quickly.

We were all having a good time and then Finn got really drunk and wouldn’t stop talking about everything that happened with my dad.

So I left and I was planning on going to one of the side decks to get some fresh air, but then I noticed Lexa sitting by herself at the Sports Bar.

From there everything escalated rather quickly.

“Griffin I’m actually quite impressed that you found someone to sleep with you on the first night!”

That's a little bit insulting.

Why is she so impressed that someone would sleep with me on the first night?

“Raven why is that so impressive?”

“We’re on a cruise ship full of loved up couples, children and senior citizens… Oh my god, did you fuck an old lady!?”

I’m not even going to bother responding to that.

“You fucked an old lady!?”

Shit.

I’m going to kill Raven.

“Clarke, I can understand the younger generation not finding you attractive, but surely there’s someone a bit closer to your age, that’s desperate enough to sleep with you?”

When I look over my shoulder to where Anya’s standing, Lexa’s with her.

This should be interesting.

“Anya we really missed you last night…”

“Griffin it doesn’t sound like you missed me at all!”

Raven’s ass is going to end up in the pool when they leave.

Her timing is horrible.

“What was the lucky pensioners name Griffin… Ruth, Betty…. Ethel?”

If Anya wasn’t so annoying I’d be impressed with how quickly she just came up with those old lady names.

“Anya her name was Beatrice and she had dentures and a walking cane… It was very sexy!”

When Raven starts laughing I look over at her and mouth the words ‘i’m going to hurt you’, but it only makes her laugh even more.

“Well Beatrice should probably get her head checked…”

And the fun begins.

“Because no one in their right mind would willingly fuck you Griffin, without something seriously wrong going on upstairs!”

Are the hand gestures she’s making really necessary?

“Anya if I run into Beatrice again I’ll definitely pass on your concerns…”

“I hope the poor lady used a dental dam!”

Gross.

“Griffin make sure she gets herself checked out, you know how it is…”

I don’t, but I’m guessing I’m about to find out.

“When you lie with dogs you get fleas!”

“Anya you sound like you’re speaking from experience?”

When she doesn’t immediately respond I glance over at Lexa.

She’s not giving much away and she hasn't spoken since they got here.  
  
  


“Anya is there anything else you’d like to contribute to our conversation or does that pretty much cover it?”

“I've really missed this Clarke!”

When they walk away I turn around and shove Raven into the pool.

“Griffin I can’t even be mad at you for that… I kind of deserved it”

Kind of?

She definitely deserved it.

“You have horrible timing Raven….”

“I know, I’m actually impressed at how bad that was! I don't think I could have said that at a more imperfect time"

“Rey she made a comment about a dental dam!”

I’m glad Raven’s amused, but I’m going to be hearing about Beatrice for the rest of this trip now.

“I’m actually with Anya on that one Grif, safe sex is important and I hope for your sake and for the little old ladies that you did use a dental dam!”

When she tries to lean on the edge of the pool next to where I’m sitting I kick her away.

“Raven why do I spend so much time with you?”

“Because I’m amazing and your life wouldn’t be the same without me!”

That’s true.

“You're not always amazing Rey... You just tossed me into the lions den and left me to fend for myself…”

"Clarke if you didn't make up a ridiculous lie about going to get pizza by yourself at 4AM, I wouldn't have been asking all of those questions and they wouldn't have overheard us... So technically you threw yourself into the lions den!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

I had a very fortunate childhood.

I had a great family who were always really supportive of me and my parents went above and beyond to make sure that I had everything that I needed.

I had a great group of friends who all grew up in the same neighbourhood as I did and we didn’t have to rely on group messages and video chats to stay connected.

I was one of the lucky ones and I knew I had it good at the time, but I never really stopped to appreciate the little moments.

I took them for granted.  
  
  
  
I took it for granted that I lived in a nice house, in a nice neighbourhood with two loving parents.

I took it for granted when I finished a race and both my parents were up in the stands cheering.

I took it for granted when I came home for the holidays as an adult and we had the same silly traditions that we had when I was a kid.

I took it all for granted, because I knew no different.

But now I'm getting to experience different for the first time and it sucks.

My dad's not with us anymore and my life's never going be the same as it was.

And lately I can't help but wonder, are all the sacrifices I've been making worth it anymore?

“Hey…”

When she suddenly appears at the end of my lounge chair I'm a little surprised.

I didn’t think she was going to go out of her way to talk to me today.

“Lexa you’re blocking the great view!”

These side decks are quickly becoming my favourite place to sit on the ship.

It's peaceful.

The views are incredible and there's nothing but ocean as far as the eye can see.

“Clarke, many would argue that I’m pretty good to look at also…”

“And many would argue that your arrogance is very unattractive!”

She's very attractive, but she knows it and I'm not going to stroke her already inflated ego.

“Clarke what are you doing out here by yourself?”

“I was enjoying the peace and quiet until you…”

“Hiding from that pretty boy Flynn again!?”

When she calls him Flynn I smile.

She did the same thing last night.

“Lexa shouldn’t you be at the doctors getting tested?”

Clearly that jokes gone straight over her head.

“Weren’t you paying attention to Anya before? If you lie with dogs you get fleas!”

I watch her as her facial expression morphs from confused to amused.

“Clarke that’s actually why I’m out here and there’s no easy way for me to say this…”

This should be interesting.

“But I went to see the cruise doctor earlier and he had some concerns…I’ve developed this rash….”

“You’ve developed a rash!? Wow!... Lexa’s that’s an impressive achievement. You’re so irritating now that even your own skin's irritated by you!”

When she sits down on the lounge chair beside mine she laughs.

“Griffin that was actually very clever”

I thought so.

“So I’m guessing Anya struck a nerve earlier?”

“She never bothers me Lexa…”

“Never?”

Never might be a slight exaggeration, but I stopped caring about what Anya had to say a long time ago.  
  
  
  
She can be pretty harsh when she wants to be, but most of time what she says goes straight in one ear and out the other.

“Maybe not never, but 99% of the time she doesn’t bother me”

When I sit up and move so I’m facing her, our chairs are a lot closer than I realised they’d be.

“Lexa I’m just going to slide this back a bit”

She’s laughing at me like I’m being ridiculous, but I like my personal space and before I slid my chair back our two chairs were pretty much sitting on top of each other.

“Don’t make it weird Lexa, our chairs don’t need to be that close for us to have a conversation…”

“I didn’t say anything...”

“I would have done the exact same thing with my chair if you were Raven or Octavia, so don't make it weird!"

“Clarke I still haven’t said anything!”

She was laughing, she didn't need to say anything to get her point across.

“So why are you out here Lexa?”

“I thought we should probably talk”  
  
  


When her demeanour becomes more serious I smile.

“Lexa I don't think I've ever seen your serious side before, are you nervous?"

“I’m not nervous, I’m just treading carefully”

She's probably worried that I'm going to freak out.

“Are you worried that I’m going to freak out and start hating you because we had sex?”

I definitely wasn’t expecting anything that happened last night to happen, but I don’t care that it did.

“Clarke I’d be lying if I said the thought hadn’t crossed my mind...”

“I don’t regret sleeping with you Lexa, so if that’s what you’re worried about?”

“You don’t!?”

It’s pretty obvious that she wasn’t expecting that response from me.

“Clarke I’m a little confused…”

That makes two of us.

“I ahh…”

When she pauses I watch her intently.

“Clarke I…”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen her lost for words before.

“Lexa, would it be easier if I just went first?"

"It would!"

I thought it might and it really is the fairest option.

She was a willing participant, but I set the wheels in motion.  
  
  
  
I was the one who initiated everything that happened last night.

“Okay wellI don’t really know what happened last night and I definitely didn’t walk onto the ship with any intentions of that happening…”

“So you haven’t been madly in love with me the whole time?”

“Lexa can you go back to being the stuttering idiot that can’t complete full sentences!?”

When she holds her hands up like she’s surrendering I smile.

“I’ll shut up now!”

I’ll believe that when I see it.

“You’re not very good at having serious conversations are you?”

“Clarke in my defense, it’s not every day that the girl who’s spent the last ten years telling me how much she despises me, ends up in my bed”

That’s fair.

“Lexa I want it on record that I still don’t really like you…”

“You have a funny way of showing it!”

When she says that I laugh.

“Look Clarke, I don’t want to force a conversation and make this into a bigger deal than it needs to be, but I couldn't just walk by without making sure you're okay with everything that happened last night"  
  
  
  
This is a different side to Lexa that I haven't seen before.  
  
  


“I just didn’t want this to be the next thing that you hate me for…”

“I’ve never hated you Lexa!”

Hate’s a very strong word.

“You’re irritating, obnoxious and a pain in the ass, but I’ve never hated you!”

“Clarke can you go easy on the compliments I’m going to get a big head!?”

This has been a strange conversation.

“So we’re okay?”

When she waves her hand between us I smile.

“Lexa we’ve never been okay…”

“But we’re no worse now than we were 24hrs ago right?”

“Right!... We’re no worse now than we were 24hrs ago!”

“Great, well this has been a fun chat!”

When she jumps up suddenly and moves away from the two chairs, I’m a little surprised.

I guess this fun conversation we're having is over.

“Alright well I’m going to leave and let you get back to whatever it is you're doing out here..."

“Okay”

I watch her as she starts walking towards the door that takes you to the main part of the ship.

“And Griffin?”  
  
  


“Yeah?”

"If you're going to get drunk tonight, can you not spend the whole night hitting on me again... I don't think I could handle another night of that!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Lexa’s P.O.V**

I’ve never really understood the appeal of cruising.

Why do people enjoy being stuck at sea away from civilisation, with thousands of people that they’ve never met before?

It’s boring, the days are long and there’s only so much you can do to fill the days.

“It’s your go Lexa”

“I know…”

“You know but you're still doing nothing!?”

This happens every time Anya and I play anything that's even the slightest bit competitive.

She doesn't handle losing very well.

“I’m thinking…”

“You’re stalling Lexa!”

I've been winning most of the hands we've played since we sat down and the more I'm winning, the more annoyed she's getting.

“I’m not stall…"

“Lexa if you don’t hurry up, I’m going to toss your stupid ass overboard and let you swim with the fish!”

When I hit the 'All In’ button she shakes her head disapprovingly.

“You’re a horrible winner Lexa…”

“Is that worse than being a horrible loser?”

“Are you two fighting about who’s more horrible? Because you’re both pretty horrid!”

When Raven interrupts us I force a smile.

"Raven you've been oddly quiet since we boarded..."

She usually doesn't shut up.

"Have you missed me Lexa!?"

I watch her as she swipes her cruise card through the machine.

"Are we playing for pennies 'cheek bones' or are you going to deposit more money into that machine of yours?"

Anya really hates it when she calls her cheek bones.

"Shut the fuck up Reyes!"

When I look over to where Anya's sitting she's aggressively pressing the little dollar sign on the bottom left hand corner of the screen to deposit more money.

This friendly game that we've been playing is about to get a lot more interesting.

"Is is that time of the month 'cheek bones' because you're being very aggressive!?"

* * *

“Are you stalking me Griffin?”

She’s leaning against the basin with her phone in her hand.

“I get it, the sex was pretty good and I’m kind of hard to forget, but waiting for me outside the toilet stall is a little creepy”

When I get to where she’s standing she steps to the side so I can use the basin.

“Lexa am I being that obvious?”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself Griffin, you’re not the first girl who's had a taste and couldn't keep away"

I watch her reflection in the mirror as she slips her phone into the front pocket of her jeans.

“I’m in love with you Lexa… I think that’s what’s been happening this whole time, I’ve never despised you, I’ve never thought you were an arrogant asshole, I’ve just been blinded by undying love for you this whole time!”

That definitely wasn’t very sincere.

“It’s either that or the only other toilet stall in here is out of order and you’re a massive douche bag!”

This is a first, I don’t think she’s ever called me a douche bag before.

“You don’t need to be shy Griffin, if you’re trying to lure me into your bed again just say so!?”

“It was your bed Lexa and there was no luring”

When I turn around so we're facing, she's smirking at me.

“Lexa is pretty good how you’re describing it?”

It was definitely better than pretty good.

“Clarke would you prefer it if I described it differently?”

I don’t plan on being the first to admit that last night was a lot better than pretty good.

“No, you’re free to describe it however you’d like”

When she tries to walk by me I hold my arm out to stop her.

“And how would you describe it Clarke?”

She’s piqued my curiosity.

“Mediocre…”

That’s a little harsh.

“Underwhelming, substandard, ordinary, below par…”

Below par is a good thing in golf.

“But Lexa you do have a history of delivering underwhelming performances so I wasn’t surprised”

I watch her as she glances down at my hand that’s found it’s way to her hip.

“Clarke, that wasn’t very nice!!"

“Sometimes the truth hurts Lexa and you’ve just got to take the criticism and do better next time…”

“There’s going to be a next time!?”

When she playfully shoves me to the side and walks towards the now vacant stall, I laugh.

"Lexa don't you have a poker game to get back to?"

* * *

“Raise!”

This game hasn't been going how Anya was hoping it would go.

“Just fold 'cheek bones' unless you want to donate another $4 to my lovely cocktail fund I’m collecting over here…”

“Reyes do you come with a mute button!?”

I'd usually fold in this spot, but it feels like too good of an opportunity to pass up.

Anya's folded and Raven and I are the only two left with cards.

“Lexa that was a very excessive raise!?”

I’m ready to bust and call it a night or get lucky and inflict maximum pain on Raven.

"Raven as great as your commentary has been, it really isn't necessary..."

“GRIF! LEXA’S ABOUT TO BUY US A SHIT LOAD OF DRINKS!”

Well this isn't ideal.

Raven's obnoxious yelling has got their attention and now Lincoln, Octavia and Clarke are walking over.

My cards really aren't worthy of an audience.

"I'll be re-raising Woods!"

I've come too far to give up now.

“I’m all in Reyes!”

I'm going to need a lot of luck or Raven's going to be $50 richer at my expense.

"That was very stupid Lexa!"

When Lincoln moves so he's standing behind me I tap the screen so he can see my cards.

“I'm never folding this hand Woods!”

When she hits the call button our cards appear face up on the screen.

“It's like stealing candy from a baby!”

The words are barely out of her mouth when the third diamond appears on the screen.

Thank you poker gods.

"Raven there's a bit of a glare on the screen, so I can't see that last card properly... Is that the eight of diamonds?"

If she was anyone else I'd probably feel a little bad that I won that hand, but it's Raven and I feel nothing but joy right now.

"Anya it looks like Raven's going to buy us a shit load of drinks!"

"Shut up Lexa!?"

This is very satisfying.

"You went a little early with the bragging Reyes..."

"I had top set and you went all in with ace high!?"

I had ace high with a flush draw, but what she's suggesting is still right.

I played that hand horribly.

"You're an idiot Lexa!"

* * *

"Well you're not the housekeeper..."

"You're expecting the housekeeper at 11PM?"

"No, but a housekeeper would make more sense"

This is an interesting development.

It's late and she's standing outside my cabin.

"Have you come by for a quickie Griffin!?"

"You left your wallet at the poker table and Lincoln asked me to drop it off!"

When she tosses my wallet towards me, it bounces off my chest and hits the floor.

"Was that foreplay Clarke?"

When I wave my hand between us she smiles.

"Are you throwing things at me to get my attention?"

"Is it working?"

This feels like deja vu.

"Clarke it's not, not working"

When I reach down to pick up the wallet, she brushes her fingers across my back.

"Lexa does your tattoo have meaning?"

Every tattoo has some kind of meaning to the person who has it.

Mine's no different.

"I'll sleep with you Clarke! You don't need to waste all your good lines and moves on me..."

"That wasn't a move or a line Lexa, that was genuine curiosity"

"Okay... Are you coming in?"

When I step back so she can walk into the cabin she shakes her head.

"Lexa you're unbelievable!"

"Don't go too early on the compliments Clarke, I haven't even touched you yet!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

My whole body feels like it’s on fire.

“Lexa, that was…”

I won't be admitting this to her, but that was the best sex I've had in a very long time.

“Really bad!”

When I glance over to where she’s lying she laughs.

“Clarke it’s always nice to hear from a satisfied customer!”

Did she have to use the words ‘satisfied’ and ‘customer’ in the same sentence?

It makes it sound so wrong.

“Lexa you're obviously not aware of the definition of 'customer', but customers exchange money for goods and services and I don’t recall any money being exchanged…”

"Well there should have been, because people pay really good money for the ‘services’ I just performed on you!”

This is the second night in a row that I've lay in this exact same position in her bed.

"I'll leave a dollar for you on the table on my way out!"

When I rollover onto my stomach I gently brush my fingers over her right hip.

“So how did you get this scar?”

She has a faint scar that's about an inch and a half long just above her hip bone.

“It’s a long story Clarke…”

One she clearly doesn't want to share with me.

“The good ones usually are”

There's a really strange dynamic between us lately and we've somehow managed to establish some unspoken rules.

Joking around is fine.

Insulting each other is fine.

Sleeping together is fine.

But if either of us mention anything that's even the slightest bit personal, our walls come up and we both shut down.

"Lexa I'm going to get going..."

I need to leave before Raven gets back to the cabin and wonders where I am.

I won't hear the end of it if I'm not there when she gets back.

“You’re not going to stick around and try and have more horrible sex with me!?”

That’s a very tempting offer, but I really should get going.

“I wish I could Lexa, but I’ve already hit my quota of horrible sex today!”

When I move so I’m sitting on the edge of her bed, I reach down to grab my clothes that were discarded next to her bed.

“Should I be expecting any more late night knocks on my cabin door?”

I know it looks very suspicious, but I didn't come here with any plans or expectations, I really was just returning her wallet.

“I was giving you your wallet back Lexa this wasn’t some genius plan I came up with to get you to sleep with me again”

“So I’m expected to believe that Lincoln asked you, the girl who to the best of his knowledge can’t stand me…”

“Most of the time I really can’t stand you Lexa, that’s not a lie!”

She just stood up and walked around to my side of the bed with no care in the world for her complete lack of clothing.

“Clarke you keep telling me that you can’t stand me, but your body language is telling me a very different story”

Why does there have to be so much history between us?

Why can't she be a random girl that I've just met?

"You don't lack any confidence at all do you?"

I usually hate how cocky she is, but right now I'm really enjoying her body confidence.

“Lexa I'm not lying when I say that there’s a lot I don’t like about you, but.I have recently discovered the one thing I do like about you..."

When I stand up, I run my eyes up and down the length of her body.

What kind of lesbian would I be if I turned her away?

I can't just leave when she's standing in front of me like this.  
  
  


* * *

“Are you okay over there?”

I feel like I’ve just ran a marathon.

“Don’t be cocky Woods!”

When she repositions herself so she's facing me, I force a smile.

"Lexa we're treading in very dangerous waters..."

This has the potential to get really messy.

"You're probably right, but we'll be fine, we're both more than capable swimmers"

Even the strongest swimmers can get themselves into trouble.

"Lexa you're not easily fazed are you?"

"Is this something I should be fazed by?"

Fazed probably isn't the right word.

"No, but are you not worried about the potential fallout?"

We'd be naive to think this will all be smooth sailing.

Our friends don't like each other and if this comes out while we're on this ship, it will be a big deal.

"Clarke I very rarely care about what anyone else thinks!"

It's hard not to laugh when she says things like that.

"Lexa, I'm not saying that you should care or that I do..."

I don't care if anyone knows that we slept together.

I'd just prefer that it didn't come out while we're all on this cruise together.

"I just know what our friends are like Lexa and if they find out that we slept together, it will be a big deal and I don't want us sleeping together to overshadow the reason we're actually on this trip..."

"Basically you want me to be your dirty little secret?"

"Pretty much and when this cruise is over you can say whatever you want about me and it won't bother me at all..."

"So a temporary ban on me talking shit about you!?"

"No, just a temporary ban on you talking shit about us sleeping together, everything else is still fair game"

"So no sex jokes at all!?"

It's a fairly reasonable request.

"Clarke, I think I can agree to that..."

"Great! Well I'm going to leave now"

When I try to hop up she stops me.

"I know you have a very low opinion of me Clarke, but I'd never use something like this against you..."

I'm starting to discover a new side of her, the old Lexa's definitely still there, but there's another side of her I'm only just meeting.

"Especially when I already have so much I can use against you..."

And there it is, the old Lexa.

"Bye Lexa..."

"Don't forget to leave that dollar on your way out!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Lexa’s P.O.V**

After a day and a half at sea, docking in Ensenada is a welcome reprieve.

“He wants to fuck her so bad!”

We’re obviously watching the same thing.

“He follows her around like she’s s a gift from god and she loves every second of it because she’s an attention seeking whore!”

The way she said that was very amusing.

“Anya, just pretend that they’re not there…”

There’s no way she’s going to be able to do that.

“Lexa how are you meant to pretend someone’s not there when they’re groping each other right in your line of sight!?”

They’re not groping each other.

Flynn's been touching and grabbing Clarke a lot, but she isn't reciprocating.

Clearly the guy's never read a volleyball rule book before or he would know that volleyball is a non contact sport.

“Isn't that bitch meant to be gay!?”

I can confidently confirm that Clarke is in fact gay.

Confirmation was received both verbally and physically.

“Anya that guy's so feminine looking that he probably still qualifies as a lesbian!”

I'm surprised that it isn't already known that Flynn is gay.

He definitely ticks a lot of the boxes.

Maybe he's in denial, because you know what they say!?

If you look like a duck, swim like a duck and quack like a duck, you're probably a duck.

“You two need to cover up, you’re scaring the children away!”

“Reyes, it’s a really big fucking beach!”

Why is she standing here!?

There’s an abundance of vacant sand that she can occupy that isn't near us.

“I’m hurt Lexa!”

When she dramatically grabs her chest I shake my head.

“Do you not want me around?”

It would be good if she could move at least two steps to the right so she isn't blocking my sun.

“Reyes, go fall off that cliff over there!”

"I would, but I'm very lazy 'cheek bones' and I can't be bothered climbing all the way up there"

When she sits down on the chair beside mine, Anya hops up and walks away.

“Lexa, I think she secretly enjoys my company”

There’s a very limited number of people’s company that Anya actually enjoys and Raven definitely isn’t one of them.

“Raven, what are you doing over here?”

“Don’t worry Lexa I’ve been given very strict instructions…”

This should be interesting.

“I have no choice but to be nice to you until this wedding shindig is over!”

When she says that I laugh.

There's no way she's going to be able to do that.

She’s incapable of being nice to me.

“You’re going to be nice to me?”

“Shut up Lexa!”

She’s off to a horrible start.

“Are your friends sick of you Reyes, is that why you're over here annoying me?”

It's always surprised me that Raven actually has friends.

Why would anyone willingly spend time with her?

“Lexa, I don’t play sports…”

“Are you uncoordinated?”

“Uninterested... There’s only one type of physical activity that I actually enjoy participating in”

That’s an image I didn’t need in my head.

“Raven, the thought of you having sex with anyone is very disturbing!”

“I get a little freaky Woods…”

Gross.

"The ladies love it!"

When I look over to where she’s sitting she laughs.

"Don't worry Woods, if I ever get struck down with amnesia and forget that you're a really shit human being, I'll fuck you and I can guarantee that you'll be using adjectives a lot more complimentary than disturbing..."

“Raven stop talking!”

I should have brought my headphones with me.

“Why are you two sitting together?”

"Octavia make her disappear!"

I should have walked away when Anya did.

"She's trying to get into my pants O..."

I'm not even going to bother responding to that.

"And I get it, I'm a catch and if we slept together I'd rock her world!"

I'm glad Octavia's amused, because I just threw up a little in my mouth.

"I'm just not desperate enough to sleep with you Lexa and you need to understand that no means no..."

"Raven I know girls that have slept with you and the reviews weren't great!"

I know one girl, not girls plural.

"Their worlds definitely weren't rocked!"

“You're full of shit Lexa, you don’t know anyone that I’ve slept with!”

“Echo?”

“Okay maybe you do know one person that I’ve slept with!”

Echo's never said anything about Raven to me before, but she doesn’t need to know that.

"Reyes, I'd tone back the cockiness If I was you!"

There's only a couple of hours left until we all have to be back on the floating prison and I have no interest in wasting it sitting here with Raven.

"You can have my chair Octavia!"  
  
  


* * *

"I bet you're glad you're off the ship, even if it is just for one day?"

"I don't mind the ship Linc!"

I hate the ship.

"And the trip hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be"

Sleeping with Clarke has been a great distraction from the constant boredom I've endured whilst on the ship

"Lincoln, how do you think Octavia would feel about having one less bridesmaid at the wedding?"

He's laughing, but it would improve their wedding if Raven wasn't involved.

"Lexa, she's pretty attached to both of them..."

"How is anyone attached to Raven?"

She's a royal pain in the ass.

"Did Octavia feel sorry for her in high school is that why they're friends?"

It would make a lot of sense.

"What did she do?"

"She was making sex jokes and told me she'd rock my world!"

Now he's really laughing.

"She's good looking Lexa, maybe you should take her up on her offer..."

"Lincoln, I'd prefer to sit here and stick needles in my eyes..."

"How about I buy you a drink instead?"

This trip would be a lot less insufferable if I was drunk every day like Anya is.

"Sure! I'll have a vodka soda with lime..."

It's a low calorie option that will have minimal impact on my training.

"One vodka soda water with lime coming up!"

"Thanks Linc!"


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> Thank you so much for the lovely comments and the kudos you've been leaving, I really appreciate it.
> 
> This one is my biggest chapter to date.
> 
> Enjoy :)
> 
> Amateurhour87

**Clarke’s P.O.V  
  
  
**

“Grif, you might be riding solo for the wedding…I don’t think Raven’s going to make it”  
  
  


I watch her as she lays her towel down next to mine.

  
  
“Alcohol poisoning?”

  
  
We’ve had a lot to drink these last couple of days, so alcohol poisoning is becoming a legitimate concern.

  
  
“That might also be a problem, but I’m pretty sure Lexa’s going to kill her before the alcohol poisoning kicks in”

  
  
When she lies down beside me I smile.

  
  
“Did they argue?”

  
  
I’ve been waiting for this moment.

  
  
“Surprisingly no… Raven was trying really hard to get a reaction out of her, but Lexa didn’t take the bait…”

  
  
That’s not as surprising as it once was.

  
  
“She told Lexa that she’d rock her world if they ever had sex and Lexa looked like she was going to throw up!”

  
  
When she says that I laugh.

  
  
Why do I always miss the good stuff?  
  


  
“O, that’s a gross image that I didn’t need in my head”

  
  
“Gross!?”

  
  
It’s only a gross thought because I’ve spent the last two nights in Lexa’s cabin.

  
  
If they were two random lesbians that I didn’t know I’d be onboard it being hot.

  
  
“Clarke, I think your hatred for Lexa is blinding your judgement”

  
  
That’s definitely not it and hate’s a very strong word, I’ve never hated Lexa.

  
  
I’ve strongly disliked her more often than not, but I’ve never hated her.

  
  
“She’s a hottie Grif!”

  
  
I agree.

  
  
“She has the brooding looks and that I don’t give a fuck attitude…”

  
  
“O, are you sure you want to commit to a heterosexual marriage!?”

  
  
I’m just messing with her, Octavia’s straighter than an arrow.

  
  
“There’s still time for you to change teams O, I’m sure Lincoln would understand if you want to sleep with his cousin!”

  
  
“I couldn’t do it Grif, I’d miss the D too much!”

  
  
The oversharing really wasn’t necessary.

  
  
“So what do you think of Ensenada?”

  
  
It’s very different to anywhere that I’ve ever been before, but I like different.

  
  
“It’s cool…”

  
  
It’s a place I probably never would have visited if it weren’t for this cruise.

  
  
“Clarke, you should leave a review on the cities trip advisor page, they’ll love your enthusiasm!”

  
  
I’ll put it on my to do list for when I get home.

  
  
“Are you alright?”

  
  
“Yeah…”

  
  
I need another drink.

  
  
"You just seem a little off?"

  
  
“I’m just having a moment O”

  
  
We used to go on mini vacations a lot when I was growing up and being here on this random beach in Mexico is bringing back memories of those trips I used to take with my family.

  
  
“Being here is just bringing back some memories…”

  
  
“Of your dad?”

  
  
“Yeah…”

  
  
He would have loved this place.

  
  
“It’s crazy O! The most random things remind me of him…”

  
  
I’m forcing my very best smile and hoping it makes her stop looking at me the way that she is.

  
  
I really don’t want to bring the mood down and ruin her day.

  
  
“Do you want something to drink O?”

  
  
I quickly hop up and dust the sand off my legs.

  
  
“Sure! Do you want me to come with you?”

  
  
“It’s okay O, I’ll go and grab them”

* * *

  
  
“Hey, can I grab two vodka sodas with lime please…”

  
  
“And a beer as well thanks!”

  
  
When he tries to hand the waiter his card I stop him.

“Finn, you don’t need to buy my drinks…”

“I have a full time job and a nice salary now Clarke”

He’s offering the waiter his card again.

“It’s a very nice offer Finn, but I’ll buy this round…”

“Clarke, I really don’t mind”

I do.

“Can you two take your lovers spat somewhere else!?”

When I look over to where Anya’s standing she’s glaring at us.

“This display of desperation is disgusting!”

“I’m sorry Anya I didn’t realise our conversation had anything to do with you!?”

“The guy wants to fuck you Griffin!”

I’m getting pretty sick of hearing the same thing over and over again.

“Anya, you're such a bitch!?”

“Finn, just ignore her"

He's been drinking and she's really not worth the energy.

"Yeah 'just ignore her'...”

When she mimics me I shake my head.

I don’t sound anything like that.

“You’re being a tease Griffin, just accept his drink, spread your legs and let pretty boy have his thirty seconds of fun!”

When I shove Finn to the side and walk over to where she’s standing she laughs.

“Have I struck a nerve Clarke?”

I can feel my blood starting to boil.

“You’ve got a really big fucking mouth Anya!”

“And what are you going to do about it Griffin?”

Even though I know what she’s trying to do, I can’t control the anger that's building up inside of me.

She’s a bitch and the ridiculous smirk she’s sending my way and the taunting laugher is tipping me over the edge.

“Anya take a really big step backwards!”

When Lexa steps between us she pushes Anya back, so there’s distance between us.

“Touchy subject Blondie!?”

“Anya you’re a real piece of shit!”

“Clarke let’s just go…”

  
  
Finn's trying to pull me away and all it's doing is adding to my annoyance.

“Don’t touch me Finn!”  
  
  
  
When I shrug him off he holds his hands up in the air and steps back.

“Trouble in paradise?”

I’m really not in the mood for her shit right now.

“You’re not exactly a ‘catch’ Griffin, so you should probably take whatever dick you can get…”

I don’t know how she does it!?

She must get really tired being such a bitch all of the time.

“When you fuck her pretty boy make sure you bring your feather duster to dust off those cobwebs!”

“Anya, you’re next drinks on me…”

I quickly reach for her drink she left on the bar and throw it at her.

“Sorry Anya did I say on me?“

And just like that the laughter has stopped and the smirk is gone.

“I meant on you!”

When she lunges at me Lexa cuts her off before she can get to me.

“Lexa get out of my way!”

“Anya just turn around and walk away…”

“You’re a real fucking loser Griffin!”

“And what are you going to do about it Anya?”

When I hold my hands out to taunt her she lunges at me a second time, but Lexa holds her back again.

“Blondie, you’re real fucking tough when someone’s holding me back!”

“Do your worst Anya!”

“Throw a drink at me again Griffin and I’ll fucking destroy you!”

The angrier she gets the more satisfying this is.

“I’m trembling with fear Anya…”

“Anya, just walk away!”

This time when Lexa nudges her backwards she glares at me one last time and walks away.

I guess that means this the lovely conversation we’ve been having is over.

“Go somewhere else Flynn?”

“It’s Finn!”

“Do I look like I care what your name is?”

I’d almost forgotten what angry Lexa looks like, but she's back.

“Finn, can you go and give O her drink?”

“Sure…”

I watch him as he grabs the three drinks the waiter left for us.

“This ones yours”

When he walks away I put the drink he handed me back down on the bar.

“Clarke, what was that?”

“We’re in Mexico Lexa so I thought I’d organise a good old fashioned Mexican stand off!”

She’s clearly not amused.

“You can’t throw drinks at people and except them not to react!”

“That’s great advice Lexa and I’ll definitely store that in the memory bank for next time”

I’m really not in the mood for a lecture.

“What happened to you not being bothered by anything she says?”

She can’t be serious!?

“You’re right Lexa, I’m a horrible person…”

“Clarke…”

“It was a complete overreaction on my end, because usually when I’m called a tease and told to spread my legs so some guy can fuck me, I don’t feel disrespected at all, I’m actually very appreciative of the advice!”

When I turn around and grab my drink off the bar I hold my hand up to get the waiters attention.

“Another drink?”

“That would be amazing! Can I get two more vodka sodas with lime and can you make them both doubles please?”

“Of course…”

“Thank you”

I quickly finish the drink I’m holding and place the empty glass back down on the bar.

“Clarke, I never said you were a horrible person…”

“No, you’re just standing here looking at me like I’m the one being unreasonable, when that fucking sociopath went out of her way to start an argument with me…”

“Come on Clarke…”

“I didn’t ask you to get involved Lexa!”

“So next time I should just let her hit you?”

“If she wants to hit me so bad, she can hit me!”

She’s looking at me like I’m insane.

“Was there anything else Lexa?”

“Why are you letting her get to you so bad?”

When the waiter puts my two new drinks down on the bar I hand him my card.

“Are you sure you want to drink that vodka as ‘hastily’ as you did the last one?”

When she glances down at the drink in my hand I shake my head.

“Hastily?”

“It means with excessive speed or urgency…”

“I know what it means Lexa, I’m just surprised it’s part of you vocabulary!”

I instantly feel a burning sensation in my throat when the second drink goes down.

I'm pretty sure the lovely waiter forgot to add the soda water and the lime to that one.

“Have we covered everything now Lexa or would you like to address the tone I used with Anya?”

When she doesn’t immediately answer me I turn around and start walking towards the toilets.

“That’s a special talent you have Griffin!”

She’s following me.

“You’ve somehow managed to spin this around and make me look like I'm the bad guy…”

I haven’t made her look like anything.

“You are aware that Anya and I aren’t the same person right?”

“Lexa, I don’t think you’re the bad guy and I am aware that you and Anya are not the same person…”

“So should I be taking that little attack personally?”

“Are you trying to annoy me Lexa, because I’m really not in the greatest mood?”

“It was a simple yes or no question Clarke!?”

“You’re insufferable!”

“Does that mean you don’t want to have a quickie with me in the bathroom?”

When I stop suddenly she runs into the back of me.

“You need to fix your brake lights…”

“Lexa am I giving of ‘I want to have sex with you’ vibes right now?”

When she steps in front of me I look her up and down.

“Two minutes ago I would have said no, but that look you just gave me has changed my mind”

Right now, a quickie in the bathroom is sounding like a really great idea.

"It's a great stress reliever..."

“Lexa if we go in there…”

I’m not sure the pointing is necessary, but I’m doing it anyway.

“You need to be quick!”

“Clarke, it wouldn’t be quickie if I wasn’t quick!”

“No foreplay, no kissing my neck…”

“Can I do that thing you wouldn’t let me do last night?”

“Definitely not!”

That’s a level of intimacy we are not participating in.

“You’re depriving yourself Griffin!”

“I’ll survive…”

“You’re settling for a little snack size version of me when you could have the whole meal!”

I’ll give her credit for the clever analogy, but I won’t be changing my mind.

“Lexa no foreplay, no kissing my neck and your mouth stays above my waistline…”

“Okay, I agree to your terms...”

“Can you help me out with this drink?”

When I hand her my drink she takes a very quick sip.

“Clarke that drink is disgusting!”

“I know, I think he just poured straight vodka in…”

She just tipped the rest of my drink onto the ground.

“Lexa, I hope you're planning on replacing that?"

“That was revenge for Anya's drink that you threw at her"

When I walk into the toilet block she places the empty glass near the sink.

“Now do you have a stall preference?”

“Lexa?”

“Hmm…”

“Stop talking!”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> A big thanks to everyone who has commented and hit Kudos I really appreciate the feedback.
> 
> Keeping hitting that Kudos button and leaving comments if you like the story and would like  
> me to continue writing this crazy Clexa journey. 
> 
> It's really great to get feedback from you all :)
> 
> Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season.
> 
> Merry Christmas everyone!
> 
> Amateurhour87

**Clarke’s P.O.V  
  
  
** ****

“Oh my god!”

  
  
Shit.

“Lexa wasn’t feeling well!”

This is easily the worst lie I’ve ever attempted, but I had no time to prepare.

I wasn’t expecting Raven to be standing there when we walked out of the stall.

“Can you step to the side Reyes, I need to wash my hands!”

Lexa’s wiggling her fingers like she’s auditioning for a jazz show and Raven’s staring at me like I’ve grown a second head.

Confused, disturbed, shocked, disgusted and dismayed are all excellent words to describe the way Raven’s looking at me right now.

“You’re disgusting Lexa!”

I’m just going to close my eyes for a second and hope that when I reopen them Raven’s not standing there anymore.

“Clarke, I think that's ‘technically’ an insult for both of us!”

I’m glad Lexa’s amused.

“You two…”

Now Raven’s waving her hands around.

“You and…”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Raven lost for words before.

“Clarke is she blackmailing you?”

That’s ridiculous even for Raven.

“Have you recently suffered a severe blow to the head?”

If I had, that’s not something I’d remember.

“Did she force herself onto you?…”

“Reyes is this a hobby of yours, do you just go from toilet block to toilet block and hang around like a creep?

When Lexa calls her a creep and follows it up with laughter I look over at her.

Her blasé, I don't give a shit attitude isn't helping make this situation any less awkward.

“Okay, I’m going to go somewhere that she isn’t!”

Perfect.

This conversation will be a lot easier if Lexa’s not here when we have it.

“That toilet stall is vacant now if you need it Reyes!?”

When Lexa steps around her and walks out the door I look back over at Raven.

“Wash your dirty, disgusting hands Griffin!”

I know that wasn't meant to be funny, but it was.

* * *

“What the hell Clarke!?”

“Raven, why were you even in there?”

I'm pretty sure she didn't use the toilet, so I am little confused about why she was in there.

“I was looking for you and apparently I have impeccable timing”

She really does.

“Have you lost your mind Clarke?”

“Rey, it’s really not that big of a deal!”

When I start walking she walks beside me.

“It’s not a big deal!?”

It isn’t, but she’s going to make it into a big deal.

“Clarke, I just caught you doing your best George Michael impersonation in a public toilet block with Lexa and you think it isn’t a big deal?”

“George Michael was caught with an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute… Lexa isn’t in the police force Rey and she didn’t bill me for her services!”  
  


I left a dollar behind last night when I was leaving as a joke, but apart from that no money has been exchanged between us.

“Lexa is Beatrice Rey…”

That one’s gone straight over her head.

“We were sitting by the pool yesterday and you went off on some tangent about old people and couples on cruise ships and then you asked me if I’d spent the night with an old lady… Anya overheard us talking… I shoved you into the pool…”

“Oh right, I remember…”

“Great well Lexa is Beatrice”

That should pretty much cover it and we can move on to a much more enjoyable conversation now.

“You were with Lexa on the first night?”

Or we can keep talking about this.

“Yes Rey…”

“So you and Lexa have slept together more than once?”

I’m pretty sure we’ve already established that.

“Wow!”

“Rey, do you want some time to process this and we can reconvene later?”

When I sit down on a nearby bench she sits down beside me.

I’m still waiting for a smile or some sort of laughter from her.

I know it will come eventually, I just need to get her past the shocked phase and then we can both laugh about this.

“Clarke, why are you acting like this isn’t a big deal?”

Because it isn’t.

I don’t care about the history, the rivalry or the ridiculous arguments we’ve had in the past.

I don’t care about any of it anymore.

“How does something like this even happen?”

“Raven you’ve had sex before, so you should have a pretty good understanding of how these things happen…”

“Who initiated it Clarke?”

“Just then?”

This time it was all Lexa.

“The first time!?”

That’s not important.

“I ahh... I can’t remember Rey…”

“Oh my god it was you!”

This situation is a lot like ripping off a bandaid.

The quicker I do it the less painful it will be.

“Okay Rey it was me, I initiated it…”

“You initiated it!?”

“Yes and I kind of initiated it last night as well…”

“It happened again last night and you initiated that as well?”

“Raven are you planning on just repeating everything that I say?”

It’s getting a little annoying.

“I’m processing Clarke!”

“Any chance you could process this a little quicker?”

The quicker she processes this the better.

I’m pretty keen to wrap this conversation up so we can start talking about something else.

“Okay I’ve processed!”

Wow!

That was a lot quicker than I was expecting.

“Great! So we can talk about something else now?”

“How bad is the sex Grif?”

Why would I go back for seconds and thirds if the sex was bad?

“You’re just limited for options and settling right?”

“Rey I know you’re not trying to insult me, but I am a little bit insulted”

I’m not limited for options and it takes two to tango, so if the sex is bad, I’m partly responsible.

“It has to be horrible Clarke, she’s so boring…”

“If I tell you it was horrible can this conversation finally be over?”

“Yes!”

Great.

“It sucked so bad Rey!”

Sometimes lying is necessary and this is one of those times.

“It wasn’t horrible was it?”

It wasn’t even the slightest bit horrible.

“Damn it Clarke! This is a disaster!”

When I start laughing she playfully shoves me.

“This isn’t funny Clarke!”

“It’s a little bit funny…”

“You’re sleeping with the enemy!”

She’s so dramatic.

“Rey are we getting any closer to the part where we can both laugh about this?”

When she finally cracks a smile I’m relieved.

This conversation was really starting to drain the life out of me.

“Okay I’m there!”

Perfect, the laughter is here now as well.

“I can’t believe that you’ve been letting that loser touch your fanny!”

Did she have to say fanny?

“Okay Rey you’re laughing a little too much now….”

It would be okay if she was laughing with me, but she's laughing at me now.

“You just got into an argument with Anya and followed it up with sex in a dirty, disgusting public toilet block with Lexa!”

It wasn’t that dirty.

“Rey, how did you know I had an argument with Anya?”

News travels fast in Ensenada.

“Finn”

Of course.

“That’s why I was looking for you, I wanted to make sure you were okay”

It’s comforting to know that she had an actual reason for being in that toilet block.

“So what happened with Anya?”

The same thing that often happens with Anya.

“She was running her mouth and things got a little fiery…”

“Finn said you threw a drink at her?”

Finn’s got a really big mouth.

“That may have happened…”

“You threw a drink at her and escaped unharmed?”

Stranger things have happened.

“Lexa was there and she held her back”

“And you kindly thanked her with dirty toilet sex!?”

“Alright Rey we’re talking about something else now!?”

“We’ve actually got to go…”

I don’t want to.

“The bus back to ship is leaving soon”


	13. Chapter 13

**Lexa’s P.O.V**

“Anya, that was quite the show!”

She seems to have dried off since I saw her last.

“How are the anger levels, have you calmed down yet?”

“Lexa, I’m going to inflict serious pain on her!”

That came out a lot funnier than she intended it to.

“I’m sorry Lexa, did I say something funny!?”

She can’t say things like that and expect me not to laugh.

“You’re going to inflict serious pain on her?”

“I am and I’m going to take great pleasure in messing up her face!”

I’d prefer it if she didn’t.

It would be a lot better for my sex life if Anya didn’t ‘inflict serious pain’ on Clarke while we’re on this cruise.

Our little arrangement we have will end very abruptly if any punches are thrown.

“I’m going to mess up her face Lexa and then I’m going to ask Lincoln for a copy of their wedding photos, so I have a permanent reminder of the fun I had punching her in the face!”

That’s very sadistic of her.

“And fuck you Lexa!”

What did I do?

“You shouldn't have got involved!”

She should be thanking me.

“Anya we’re in a foreign country and you were about to commit assault in a very public area…”

“It’s considered self defense when you’re assaulted first”

I’m pretty sure hitting someone is considered a lot more serious than throwing a drink.

“Come on Anya, I did you a favour... You can’t just hit her!”

“Yes I can and I would have if you didn’t get involved!”

I couldn't just stand there and let her hit her.

“Just let it go Anya….”

“No! That bitch threw a drink at me, a drink that I fucking paid for!”

I don't know why I'm bothering.

She’s clearly not going to calm down anytime soon.

"Look I get it, I'd be pissed if someone threw a drink at me as well, but you don't need to retaliate, you can just let it go..."

“No!”

It’s like talking to a toddler.

“Weren’t you trying to get a reaction out of her?… Wasn’t that the whole point?”

“Lexa, I didn’t say anything to her that wasn’t true”

“You were being a bitch and she gave you the reaction you were looking for…”

“She threw a fucking drink at me!”

Okay maybe it wasn't the exact reaction that she was looking for, but she did have it coming.

“Which was tame in comparison to what she should of done!”

If I was Clarke I would of done a lot worse than throw a drink at her.

“Anya, I would of knocked you on your ass if you had of said any of that shit to me…”

“As if you could knock me on my ass!”

She knows I could.

“I’d knock you on your ass Anya and then I’d grab that drink of yours that you’re so upset about and tip it all over you…”

“Why do you suddenly care if I fight with Blondie?”

“I don’t…”

“Great! So when I run into her again, you’ll stay out of it!”

“Just let it go Anya…”

“No!”

Anya doesn’t let anything go.

“Can you at least wait until we’re back on US soil before you hit her? Visiting you in a Mexican prison would be really hard work..."

“Stay out of it next time Lexa or I’ll hit you first and then I’ll hit her!”

When she turns and walks away I don't follow her.

She needs to cool down.

“Where’s Anya storming off to?”

“She has a really weak bladder…”

“She seemed mad?”

When he steps in front of me I force a smile.

“Linc, what is there to be mad about?”

Lie, lie, lie.

That’s my plan right now.

“I don't know Lexa, why don’t you tell me?”

“She’s just being extra dramatic today, I think it’s that time of the month again…”

“Or she got into a fight with Clarke?”

News travels fast.

“Did she? She didn’t mention anything…”

“She probably thought you already knew because you were there”

I’m not doing a very good job at this lying thing.

“Are you talking about that little thing that happened at the bar?”

“Yeah that little thing where Clarke threw a drink at Anya and you had to seperate them?”

“Oh that was nothing Linc, just a blip on the radar…”

I was really hoping that Lincoln wouldn’t find out about this.

“What happened?”

”Anya was complaining it was too hot, so Clarke 'very kindly' threw a glass of water at her to cool her down…”

It was vodka, but the story is more believable with water.

“Lexa!?”

“Lincoln, how did you even hear about this?”

“Does it matter?”

Not really, but I am a little curious.

“What happened Lexa?”

“I missed the start…”

I could have missed the start, the middle and most of the ending and I still would have got the gist of it.

It wasn’t a very hard argument to follow.

“But Anya was saying stuff about Clarke and the guy with the really gay haircut…”

“Finn?”

That’s the one.

“Clarke was really pissed…”

I’ve never seen Clarke get mad like that before.

“Then the drink was thrown and all hell broke loose...”

“Octavia’s going to be so mad!”

“We could just not tell her?”

What she doesn't know can't hurt her.

“She already knows…”

Well that sucks.

“Finn already told everyone”

Finn has a very big mouth.

“We should probably go and find Anya"

"Linc, It might be best to just let her cool off a bit..."

"We have to find her, the bus back to the ship is leaving soon"

Is it that time already?

"We could not find her and leave her here?"

When he starts laughing I smile.

I thought that might cheer him up.

"She's very resourceful Linc, she'd find her way back to LA alright..."

"Don't tempt me Lexa!"


	14. Chapter 14

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

“Are you actually trying to sleep or just pretending so I don’t ask questions?”

She knows me too well.

You can hear everything in these cabins, so when she started to open the door that connects the bathroom to the rest of the cabin I shut my eyes.

This is the first real opportunity she’s had to grill me about Lexa since we left the beach.

“Pretending…”

"I thought so"

I couldn't sleep right now even if I wanted to.

I'm wide awake.

“Who’s the top?”

She’s so predictable.

I would of put money on that being one of the first questions that she asked.

“There was no top that time Rey, we were both vertical…”

“When you’re both vertical the bottom is the one with their back to the wall”

I’m pretty sure she just made that up.

“Does positioning really matter Rey?…”

“Of course it matters, you two have hated each other for nearly a decade and now you’re fucking each other… It’s fascinating!”

It’s really not that fascinating.

“You can't stand Lexa, so why would you want to hear about anything ‘sexual’ that involves her?”

“Nice try Griffin!”

I thought so.

“If you want me to keep your dirty little secret, I’m going to need some information”

I really don't care if the others find out, but I would prefer it if they didn't find out while we're on this ship.

“Okay fine!... We’ve both been sharing the ‘top’ duties…”

“Clarke, you’ve had enough sex to know that there’s always one participant that spends more time on top than the other, now who is it?”

“Who do you think it is?”

“Lexa!”

She didn’t even stop to think about that.

“Rey, are you sure you don’t want to think about that for a second?”

“No, I’m almost certain Lexa would be the top in this situation!”

“I’d say it’s been a 45/55 split…”

Probably closer to 40/60 but she doesn’t need to know that.

“And Lexa is the 55?”

“Yes, but there’s only been a very small sample size…”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a bottom Grif”

I need to pick my battles wisely with Raven and this is one of those battles where I’m just going to surrender.

“It means you’re a little lazy between the sheets, but that’s okay!”

When she says that I throw a pillow at her.

“Why would you go there Clarke!?"

Why wouldn't I?

"She’s so boring... she’s egotistical...cocky...full of herself…”

“Rey, you basically just said she’s arrogant in three different ways”

“Because she is!”

“I’m not disagreeing with you…”

“I’ll give her credit for the way she looks, because physically she’s pretty flawless, but in every other department she’s a D+ at best…”

“So you think she’s hot?”

“I have eyes Clarke, she’s obviously very good looking…”

“I could put in a good word for you if you’re interested Rey?”

“You’d share her with me?”

“She's not my property, so I can't just share her, she would have to agree..."

“But you’d be okay with me fucking her?”

She’s making this conversation a lot weirder than it needs to be.

“Why wouldn’t I be? We’re not together...”  
  
  


“You’re just friends with benefits right? Wait! Can two people be friends with benefits if they’ve never actually been friends? Your situation probably falls into the enemies with benefits category…”

“Rey, they need to study your brain when you’re done with it!”

She’d be a great case study.

“You haven’t caught feelings have you?”

“We’ve been having sex Rey, we haven’t been whispering sweet nothings in each others ears!”

“Don’t get sassy with me Griffin, I’m just trying to get to the ‘bottom' of this…”

She put a little extra emphasis on the ‘bottom’ and winked at me when she said it.

“No pun intended!”

“It’s casual sex Rey…”

“Don’t fall in love with her Clarke, I don’t want to have to pretend that I like her!”

When she says that I laugh.

“I’m serious Clarke, don’t let that pussy of hers cast a spell on you!”

“Rey, if I notice a wand coming out of there, I’ll grab my things and leave”

“So you are planning on it happening again?”

“I don’t know Rey, it’s not something that we’ve been planning, it just happens...”

"Having sex with someone you've spent the past decade hating doesn't just happen Clarke! Getting your period once a month, Christmas, Thanksgiving... These are all things that just happen!"  
  
  


She keeps switching between judgemental and amused and right now she seems to be very amused.

Which is perfect for me, because it's a much better conversation to have when we're both laughing.

Even if she is laughing at me.

"You letting that loser touch your Vaggie burger, doesn't just happen Clarke!”

It does and it probably will again.

“You letting her dirty, disgusting Polis hands touch your Vajayjay, doesn't just happen!”

Now she’s laughing so much, she just snorted.

“Grif, please tell me you didn’t let her filthy tongue near your…”

“Okay Raven I’m cutting you off!”

“Oh my god you did, didn’t you!?”

“I’ve cut you off Rey, no more inappropriate questions”

I don’t want to be disrespectful to Lexa and divulge too much information.

“All I’ll tell you is this… I kissed her first, I strongly encouraged the Vajayjay touching and I’m most likely going to encourage it again!”

We still have two nights left on this cruise.

It would be a waste to not capitalise on the great sex.

“Because she’s hot Rey and it’s very easy to forget the decade long rivalry we’ve had when the sex is as good as it has been…”

“Of course it’s good Grif, make up sex is always the best!”

I don’t think this falls into the category of make up sex.

“Can you please throw me back my pillow now?”

When she tosses my pillow back to where I’m lying I slide it under my head.

“How long have we got until dinner Rey?”

I should probably get up and shower soon.

“We have about an hour”

* * *

When I stepped through the door I didn’t notice her standing there until it was too late.

“Got anything smart to say now it’s just the two of us Griffin?”

Why didn’t I turn right when I left the lounge area?

There are toilets everywhere on this ship and I picked the only one with Anya in it.

“You were so tough earlier when Lexa was holding me back!”

Apparently public toilet areas are cursed today.

First Raven catches me walking out of a stall with Lexa and now I’m cornered in this very narrow bathroom with Anya.

“I’m sorry Anya is this the part where I’m meant to get scared? Because I can pretend I am if it would make you feel bet…”

When her fist connects with the corner of my eye it catches me completely off guard.

We’ve had a lot of run ins over the years but she’s never actually hit me before.

“I’m sorry Blondie I missed that last part?

She has a very satisfied look on her face right now and it’s taking every little bit of self control I have not to react.

“What’s wrong!? You were so tough earlier and now you’re acting like a mute!?”

I can’t believe she actually fucking hit me.

“Anya, I know toddlers that hit harder than…”

When she hits me a second time I stumble backwards.

That one’s definitely going to leave a mark.

“ANYA!?”

I don’t know if Lexa just has incredible timing or if she knew that we were in here, but either way she’s here and she’s standing between us again.

“What are you doing!?

“Blondie and I were just catching up!”

When Lexa looks over to where I’m standing I turn around and walk into one of the empty stalls.

I’m really starting to hate this fucking cruise.

* * *

“Are you alright?”

I was deliberately waiting in the stall until they'd both left, but apparently Lexa's very good at being silent for long periods of time and didn't actually leave.

“I’m really sorry Clarke, I thought I’d calmed her down”

I can feel her eyes on me when I turn on the basin.

“What are you apologising for Lexa!? She’s not your responsibility”

“I know, I just…"

I really need to get out of this bathroom and as far away as I can from everyone I know on this ship.

“Are you okay?”

“Lexa I don't think I’ve ever been better!”

When I try to turn around to dry my hands she steps in front of me.

“Did she hit you twice?”

The first hit felt a lot harder than the second.

“Can I?”

Her hand’s hovering next to my eye and I know she has good intentions, but right now I’d really prefer it if she didn’t touch me.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t”

When I nudge her hand away from my face she slips both her hands into the front pocket of her jeans.

“I’m sorry Clarke, I didn’t…”

She looks really uncomfortable.

“It’s fine Lexa, I’m just going to go…”

“Can you at least let me go and grab you some ice before you leave? Your lips starting to swell and you’re eyes pretty red…”

“I’m fine”

“Clarke you really need to ice it or it will…”

“What I need is for you to get out of my fucking way!”

My eye's really starting to hurt now and she's blocking my only exit out of this bathroom.

“Clarke….”

“WHAT!?”

When she holds her hands up in the air like she’s surrendering I feel bad, but I really don't want her fussing over me right now.

“You don’t owe me anything Lexa, you don’t need to wait for me and make sure that I’m okay!”

All I need from her right now is for her to get out of my way so I can leave this fucking bathroom.

“I let you fuck me a couple of times Lexa and that didn't come with a duty of care agreement! So you don’t need to go and grab me some ice or save me from Anya!”

“Clarke…”

“Can you please just take a big step to the left so I can leave this fucking bathroom!?”

When she finally moves out of the way I walk right by her and straight out the door.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, 
> 
> Thanks for all the Kudos and comments it's always great to get feedback and read your thoughts.
> 
> I'll hopefully have another update online pretty quickly after this one.
> 
> Take care,
> 
> Amateurhour87

**Lexa’s P.O.V**

“Hey…”

I had a feeling she’d be out here, this seems to be her go to spot on the ship.

I found her sitting in the same spot yesterday.

“I brought you some ice”

When she doesn’t immediately respond I step around her so I can see the damage.

There’s a really good chance that she’s going to tell me to fuck off again, but I couldn’t just let her walk off, knowing she was hurt and on her own.

“Clarke, can I see?”

She has her hair covering her eye.

“Lexa, I’m really sorry about before”

When she looks up at me her hair drops away from her eye.

“You don’t need to apologise to me”

“I do...“

She was upset.

I didn’t take anything she said personally.

“I was a bitch Lexa and I’m sorry”

Her eye's already looking pretty swollen, but it’s hard to see how bad it is from where I’m standing.

“Clarke, I was a little mad about the ‘you’ve been letting me fuck you’ comment, because it’s actually me that’s been letting you fuck me!”

I was hoping she’d laugh at that, mission accomplished.

“You're the initiator and I'm the one who let it happen...”

“Lexa, you really love that it was me who initiated it don’t you?”

I reach into the back pocket of my jeans and remove the packet of Advil I grabbed for her so I can sit down.

“It was a pretty incredible moment for my ego”

There’s usually lounge chairs on these side decks, but for some reason tonight they’re nowhere to be seen and we’re stuck sitting on the ground.

“Clarke, are you going to let me see your eye?”

When I reach across and brush her hair to the side I’m expecting her to pull away like she did in the bathroom earlier, but she doesn’t.

“How bad does it hurt?”

When I gently brush my thumb down the side of her eye she flinches.

“Sorry…”

“Lexa, does it look bad?”

Anya’s a trained fighter and when she hits, she hits really hard.

So I was expecting her to look a lot worse than she does.

“It actually looks a lot better than I thought it was going to look”

The lighting isn’t great out here, but you can clearly see the swelling building up around her eye.

“Do you feel alright?”

“Lexa, have I had you wrong this whole time?”

When I run my fingers down her cheek and over her lip she smiles.

“I doubt it…”

This situation is starting to feel a lot more intimate than I meant it to.

“I was such an ass to you before Lexa and you’re still out here making sure I’m okay…”

“And are you?”

She didn’t answer me before.

“Yeah”

That wasn’t very convincing.

“Here Clarke…”

When I move my hand away from her face I pass her the bag of ice and the packet of Advil.

“You really need to ice that eye”

“You went back to you room to grab me Advil?”

Yes, but she doesn't need to know that.

“Not exactly... I had a feeling you’d be out here, so I went back to my cabin to grab a jacket and grabbed the Advil while I was there”

The jacket was a last minute decision, the Advil was the actual reason I went back to my cabin.

“So, how does it feel?”

When she presses the ice to her eye and leans back against the wall, I look out at the water.

The ocean always feels very different at night.

“Not great”

When she says that I feel horrible.

I didn’t think Anya would actually hit her.

“I’m sorry Clarke, I thought I’d calmed her down…”

“Lexa please don't apologise, you have nothing to apologise for... Things have just been kind of shit lately and today Anya caught me at a bad time…”

When she says that I look back over at her, but she keeps her eyes fixed on the water.

“And I shouldn’t have let her get to me as much as I did, but she just doesn't shut up and I wasn't in the greatest mood”

Anya can be pretty relentless when she wants to be.

“Clarke, if she had of said any of that shit to me I would have reacted a lot worse than you did…”

“Yeah, but she hasn’t wanted to hit you for the better part of a decade!”

Anya’s always had more of a problem with Clarke than anyone else in the group.

"I should have just walked away when she started saying shit at the beach and this whole situation could have been avoided..."

"Clarke, she should never have hit you, even after what happened at the beach!"

The punishment didn't fit the crime.

It was a complete overreaction on Anya's end.

“When my dad died I went back to Phoenix so quickly after the funeral, because I hated the way everyone was acting around me and I know that sounds really horrible because they were just concerned and looking out for me, but I just hated all the extra attention I was getting, so I used training as an excuse to get out of LA..."

When she lets the bag of ice drop to the ground I grab it.

“Now I’m back for this first time since he died and I’ve been going out of my way to avoid pretty much everyone on this trip but you, Octavia and Raven, because you’re the only three that aren’t treating me differently… Now tomorrow and at the wedding I’m going to be walking around with a busted lip and a black eye that pretty much screams ‘look at me!’…”

My heart breaks for her, I know what it’s like to lose a parent and losing her dad the way she did must have been devastating.

“I suppose it’s kind of funny really… All I’ve wanted these last few months is for my life to go back to the way it was before my dad died and you can’t get more normal than Anya hating my existence!”

When she looks over at me I brush a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“It will get better with time Clarke”

Time heals all wounds.

“Lexa, do you want to go and get really drunk?”

Everything's starting to make a lot more sense.

We're in the middle of a pretty intense training program, so it has been a little surprising to see her drink as much as she's been drinking.

But she's obviously drinking to forget, but that never works, alcohol’s only a temporary fix.

“Clarke, will you ice your eye and take the Advil if I come?”

She’s going to go to the bar with or without me.

So I may as well go with her and make sure she doesn’t get too wasted.

“Yes Lexa and if you’re not annoying I’ll fool around with you a little…”

When she stands up and holds her hand out to help me up I laugh.

“You’ll fool around with me at the bar?”

“Not at the bar, but you can play with my boobs later when there’s no one else around…”

“You have tiny swimmer boobs Clarke! That's not really a great selling point”

When I grab hold of her hand and stand up she playfully shoves me back.

“Lexa, you have tiny swimmer boobs, mine are bigger than yours!"

That’s true.

“Okay, I’ll come to the bar”

* * *

“Lexa, I really am sorry about before”

We’ve been sitting here for a while now, so that apology was a little random

“Honestly Griffin, don’t worry about it…”

“You should have run for the hills!”

“Clarke, if we weren’t stuck on this ship with no hills in sight, I would have”

When she starts laughing I lean back into my chair.

I need to spend more time in this particular lounge.

No one seems to come down here and these chairs are very comfortable.

“Lexa, can you be a bitch and say something horrible to me so we’re even?”

“Nope, you’re the bitch Clarke and I’m the nice one, that’s how this works!”

“You are actually a lot nicer than I’ve ever given you credit for…”

She's holding a drink in one hand and a glass filled with ice in the other and keeps switching between drinking and icing her eye.

“Clarke, didn’t anyone ever tell you that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover?”

“Yes, but your book has a very confusing cover…"

She's a lot more upbeat than she was when I found her outside.

The combination of ice, Advil and alcohol seems to have really lifted her spirits.

"Lexa, it’s one of those books that you pick up at the book store and you're intrigued by because it has a really mysterious cover, but the cover gives very little away about its contents”

When she presses the glass filled with ice back against her eye I smile.  
  
  


“Clarke, are you trying to say that you think I’m mysterious?”

“You’re very mysterious!”

I’m not that mysterious.

“Clarke you only think I’m mysterious because I don’t overshare everything like you and your friends do…”

“How would you know if we overshare or if we don’t?”

I’ve been around them enough to know that they know way too much about each others lives.

“Today, when Raven caught us walking out of the stall together did she ask you anything overly personal about what we’ve been doing?”

“She pretty much caught us having sex Lexa, so it’s not abnormal for her to ask questions…”

“I’m not saying it’s abnormal, I’m asking if she asked you anything inappropriate and if you answered?”

“Can I plead the fifth?”

The massive smile on her face is the only answer I need.

“You’re an oversharer Griffin!”

“I’m not an oversharer”

She is.

“So you didn’t tell Raven anything?”

“I didn’t say I didn’t tell her anything, but I didn’t ‘overshare’.. Raven was suffering from a mild case of shock!”

Raven looked like she’d seen a ghost when we stepped out of the stall.

It was very amusing.

“And like you Lexa, she was very focused on who initiated it...”

“Did you lie and say it was me?”

The way she’s looking at me makes me think she did.

“No, I didn’t lie and say it was you…”

“So you actually admitted that it was you who threw yourself at me?”

“Lexa, I didn’t throw myself at you…”

“You let you inner lesbian out of the cage and just pounced on me like a dog on heat!”

When she grabs a piece of ice out of the glass she’s using for her eye and throws it at me I laugh.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about Clarke, I was very flattered..."

"You're such an ass!"

"Do you want to get out of here Clarke... I'll let you pounce on me again?"

There’s much more enjoyable ways we could be spending our time right now.

“Lexa, you’re lucky I find your cockiness sexy, because that was a shocking line…”

“You find me sexy?”

When I stand up I help her to her feet.

"I've recently suffered a couple of blows to my head, so nothing I'm saying right now should be taken too seriously"


	16. Chapter 16

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

This is not how I wanted this night to end, but nothing in my life seems to be going how I want it to lately.

I’ve been sitting here slumped on Lexa’s bathroom floor for what feels like hours, after emptying the entire contents of my stomach into her toilet.

Now I’m just sitting here hoping the sharp pain behind my eye will disappear soon.

“Clarke?”

When I hear Lexa’s voice I rest my head back against the counter.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah…”

"Clarke, I'm coming in"

I really don’t want her to walk in and see me like this, so I drag myself up to my feet, but when I do my head starts spinning.

“It’s okay, I got you…”

She’s holding my arm so I don’t stumble.

“I’m okay Lexa”

I just stood up too quickly.

“Is it your eye?”

I’m almost certain that I have some sort of concussion, it’s the only thing that makes sense.

“Yeah…”

“Clarke, can I see?”

I rest my hand on the counter as she brushes my hair away from my eye.

“Look at me…”

I am looking at her.

“How bad is the pain?”

“I’m okay Lexa, I just…”

I watch her as she grabs the small towel next to the basin and wets it.

“Here, this will help cool you down”

“Thanks”

I feel really disgusting and her close proximity is making me very self conscious.

“Do you feel concussed?”

I’ve never had a concussion before so I don’t know what one feels like, but I know enough to know that I have a lot of the symptoms.

“I just… I ahh... I don’t feel great”

“I’m going to go and find you some ice again, it will help ease the pain”

“Lexa, you don’t have to do that...”

“I don’t mind, I need to go and grab some more water anyway”

I really don't want to be an inconvenience, but I also don't have a lot of options right now..

I need to try something and the ice should help my headache.

“Thank you...”

“Will you be alright for a couple of minutes if go?”

“Yeah…”

“Okay, I’ll be right back”

* * *

When she walks back into the cabin I’m sitting on the end of her bed with a towel wrapped around me.

“Are you feeling any better?”

I don’t feel light headed or nauseous anymore, I just have a splitting headache that won’t go away.

“Yeah…”

“I’ll grab you something to wear”

I watch her as she starts digging through her bag.

“Lexa, I hope it’s okay that I showered, I just felt really disgusting”

“Of course it’s okay, I don’t care...”

“I’m really sorry Lexa, this is not how I was hoping this night would end”

When she walks over to where I’m sitting she flicks my towel undone so it drops to the bed.

“How were you hoping the night would end?”

I was hoping it would end with me naked on her bed like I am now, but I would have skipped the part where I was vomiting and the headache.

“Not with you helping me get dressed, which I can’t let happen…”

When she hands me the shirt she’s holding I force a smile.

“Lexa, this night has already been embarrassing enough, I can’t have you helping me get dressed as well”

This has definitely been one of the craziest nights I’ve experienced.

“Do you think you’re going to be sick again?”

A fair bit of time passed between me being sick and her walking into the bathroom, so I'm not really sure how she knows that I was sick,

“Lexa, how did you know I was sick?”

“I’m very perceptive…”

“Did I smell really funky?”

"No"

She's lying, this is so embarrassing.

“Lexa, hopefully when I wake up tomorrow I don’t remember anything that happened tonight”

When I slip on the pair of shorts she gave me she hands me the bag of ice.

“I grabbed you some water as well and here’s the Advil from before”

This packet of Advil she packed has really come in handy.

“I’m just going to jump in the shower real quick…”

“Lexa, I can just go back to my own cabin?”

I doubt I’ll be sleeping anytime soon and I don’t want to keep her up.

“Griffin, don’t even think about leaving this room while I’m in the shower!”

* * *

“Is the ice helping?”

I’m feeling a lot better now than I did before she gave me the ice.

“It is, thank you”

I don’t know what I would have done if she wasn’t here.

“So is this a first Lexa? Have you ever slept with a girl and had to nurse her back to health afterwards?”

When she lays down beside me I look over at her.

“Clarke, you’d actually be surprised how often this happens…”

Why did tonight have to end this way?

"A lot of the girls that I sleep with throw up afterwards and It's not really great for my confidence..."

“Well I can’t speak for any of those others girls Lexa, but my throwing up was completely unrelated”

When she slips her leg between mine and moves so she’s hovering above me I smile.

“So the sex didn’t contribute to your nausea?”

“Not this time”

I’ve never had a connection sexually with someone the way that I have a connection with her.

“You can go back to sleep Lexa, you don’t need to stay up”

"You just want me to fall asleep again so you can sneak off!'

Tonight’s the first night I’ve actually stayed in her room, all of the other nights I’ve left and gone back to my own cabin.

But tonight I didn’t want to have to go back to my cabin and explain to Raven what happened, so I stayed.

But if I had of known the night was going to end like this, I would have left and saved Lexa the hassle.

“Lexa, if I had the energy to leave I would have snuck off before you found me all disgusting in the bathroom…”

“You weren’t disgusting”

When she brushes her fingers through my hair I smile.

“Lexa, I smelt so funky that you knew I’d thrown up…”

“You didn’t smell funky! There was just a bit of an odour in the bathroom"

That’s just as embarrassing.

“Lexa, I’ve never felt like that before... I woke up with this really sharp pain behind my eye and when I sat up I instantly felt really nauseous”

I barely made it to the bathroom in time.

“And after I threw up it felt like someone had zapped all the energy out of me and I couldn’t move…”

“Clarke, you should have woken me”

When I brush my fingers through her hair she smiles.

“Lexa, I didn’t want to bother you...”

"We're not having sex right now Griffin, so cut that out!"

I don’t have the energy to even think about having sex right now.

"I didn't do anything..."

“That little hair thing you just did felt like a move"

It definitely wasn't a move.

"Me running my fingers through your hair felt like a move?"

"Yes and you gave me a look"

I wasn’t aware that I was giving her a certain look.

“Lexa, I don't have the energy to even think about having sex right now, but I’m happy to just lie here if you want to do all the work?”

“How would that be any different to any of the other times that we’ve had sex!?”

When she starts laughing I grab the bag of ice from my eye and tip some of the ice blocks down the back of her shirt.

“Shit!”

When she jumps off the bed and starts shaking the ice out of her shirt I laugh.

“That’s not cool Griffin…”

“Technically that was very cool Lexa!”

Excuse the pun.

"Earlier when I was talking to Raven, she asked me who spent more time on top and when I gave in and said it was you, she called me lazy as well..."

"Was this when you were having that conversation where you didn't overshare?"

"I didn't overshare Lexa!"

I didn't tell Raven anything overly personal.

"It was just a normal discussion between friends"

I watch her as she climbs back onto the bed and lays back down beside me.

“Clarke, why do you voluntarily spend time with her?”

“Why do I voluntarily spend time with my best friend?”

“Yes, it’s baffling!”

Raven goes out of her way to annoy her every time she sees her, so it’s not surprising that Lexa doesn’t like her.

“Clarke, she’s so annoying!”

“And everyone you associate with is really lovely and not annoying at all?"

“Exactly!”

When she drapes her leg back over mine I reach across and put the bag of ice down on the bedside table.

“Does Raven find it hard to get people to sleep with her is that why she’s so invasive about your sex life?”

“She’s not invasive about my sex life”

She is a little, but it’s just how we are.

Nothing’s really off limits between us.

“She just asked some fairly basic, non invasive questions…”

“Like who’s on top?”

“Okay that is a little invasive, but she only asked that because she was curious about how this all played out”

If our roles were reversed, I'd be curious as well.

“Clarke if she starts saying any shit to me when I see her tomorrow, I’m going to throw a drink at her!”

When she starts laughing at her own joke it makes me laugh.

“Lexa, isn't it a little too soon for that particular joke?”

She’s hovering above me again.

“I’m allowed to joke about it Clarke, because some of that drink you threw splashed on me”

She was standing very close to Anya when I threw that drink.

"I'm very sorry Lexa, let me make it up to you"

When I brush my lips over hers, she runs her fingers across my stomach and kisses me back.

“No silly business Griffin!”

She can't say that and then bite down on my bottom lip like it's nothing.

"No silly business Woods!"

This is torture.

I have very little self control when it comes to Lexa.

"We should sleep Lexa..."

“Anya’s such a pain in the ass!”

That’s one way of describing her.

“She should have hit Raven, that would have been a lot less inconvenient for me...”

"I would of been so annoyed if she hit Raven..."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't be concussed and completely useless to me right now!"

When she reaches across me to switch off the bedside light I poke her in the ribs.

"That's not funny Lexa!"

It was a little bit funny.

“Clarke, make sure you wake me if you're not feeling well again.”

“I’ll be okay Lexa...”

“Just wake me Griffin, don’t be so stubborn!"

When she lays back down beside she moves so she’s lying on her stomach.

“I’ll wake you Lexa”

I’m feeling a lot better now than I was.

I just feel like someone’s zapped all of the life out of me and I’m running on empty.

"Actually wake me Griffin, don't just say you're going to wake me so I shut up!"  
  
  


"I will..."

When she drapes her arm across me and gently starts massaging the side of my head I smile.

"I promise"


	17. Chapter 17

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

“Morning”

When I open my eyes Lexa’s sitting on the little arm chair, dressed and looking like she’s been awake for hours.

“Hey…"

It feels late.

"Lexa, what time is it?”

“It’s about 11”

I can’t remember the last time that I woke up at 11AM.

“I went to the buffet area and grabbed some fresh fruit…”

When I sit up I move so I’m sitting on the edge of her bed.

As much as I’d love to sleep all day and skip the rest of this cruise, I can’t.

The others are probably wondering where I am.

“There’s also some orange juice”

“Thank you Lexa…”

“How are you feeling?”

When she hops up and walks over to where I’m sitting she hands me a glass of orange juice.

“I just feel really drained, but everything else seems to have gone back to normal...”

“So your eye’s not hurting?”

It doesn’t hurt at all right now.

“It’s just a little stiff, but it doesn’t hurt….”

I’m really hoping it doesn’t look as bad as I think it’s going to look.

“Lexa, how bad do I look?”

If it doesn’t bruise too much, I can attempt to cover it with makeup at the wedding.

“I’d still sleep with you…”

“Well that’s something I guess”

When I take a sip from the orange juice I place the glass back down on the bedside table.

“So, what are you going to tell the others Clarke?”

I don’t want anything that happened last night to ruin this week for O and Lincoln.

“I’m just going to say I fell”

“You’re not going to tell them what actually happened?”

Definitely not.

“Lexa, the truth will start all of this unnecessary drama and that’s not fair on Octavia or Lincoln”

“Are you sure?”

I can’t tell them the truth.

“Yeah, if I say what really happened it’s just going to put Lincoln and O in a really horrible position…”

“Yeah, but you 'not' telling them the truth is a pretty shitty deal for you!”

The rest of this week will be a lot easier for everyone if I don't say what actually happened.

“It’s okay, I don't mind”

When I tug on her arm she moves so she’s standing between my legs.

“Lexa, I really don’t want to have to deal with another day like yesterday...”

I’m done wasting energy on Anya and everything that happened in the last 24 hours.

“And I’m pretty keen to just forget about yesterday and invest my energy into other things”

When I lift her shirt up and start kissing her stomach she runs her fingers through my hair.

“Are you sure you’re alright Clarke?”

My face is a little stiff, but everything else feels normal.

“It’s a new day Lexa!”

When she grabs my arm and pull me up to my feet I smile.

“Clarke, I need to go and work out”

That sucks.

“That’s fine, I should probably go and face the music anyway!”

When I try to step around here to grab my things, she stops me.

“That wasn’t a no Clarke…”

It felt like a no.

“We just have to be quick”

I can be quick.

“Lexa, how quick are we talking?”

When she grabs the hem off my shirt and lifts it up and over my head I smile.

“Maybe we don’t have to be that quick”

* * *

“Well look what the cat dragged in!”

For a second, I thought she wasn’t here, but then she stepped out of the bathroom.

“Clarke, what happened to your face!?”

When she pushes my head to the side so she can see my eye, I sigh.

“What happened Clarke!?”

“Anya hit me!”

“WHAT!?”

There’s no use beating around the bush, I may as well just get straight to the point.

“Why did she hit you?”

Because she hates me and she thinks it’s socially acceptable to punch people in the face.

“She was pissed off about what happened at the beach yesterday and when I went to the bathroom last night I was a sitting duck…”

I'm pretty sure, she’s probably wanted to hit me for years.

“I walked into the bathroom and straight away Anya started running her mouth and when I didn’t respond to what she was saying, she started saying all of this shit about me not being so tough now Lexa’s not holding her back…”

When I sit down on the edge of the bed she sits down in front of me.

“Rey, I got about six words out and then she just hit me!”

“Clarke, I’m actually in shock!”

This is the second time in the last 24 hours that Raven’s legitimately been shocked.

First, she catches me with Lexa and now I'm telling her Anya hit me.

“Anya’s a bitch, but I never thought she’d actually hit you!”

“She’s probably wanted to hit me for years and yesterday I gave her a reason to…”

“That bitch is such a psycho!”

“I know and when she hit me I was so shocked, that I just stood there while she kept running her mouth... Then eventually I said something back to her about toddlers hitting harder than her and she just hit me again!”

“What!? She hit you twice!?”

She’s leaning across to check my face again.

“Yeah, she hit me in the mouth and my top lip was swollen last night, but it’s pretty much back to normal now…”

“Did Lexa kiss it better!?”

When she starts laughing I nudge her backwards so she’s back on her side of the room.

“What did Lexa say when she found out what happened?”

“She actually walked into the bathroom when she was hitting me the second time and dragged Anya away from me…”

“And?”

“And what Rey?”

I don’t get the question.

“I’m curious Clarke! How did she react when she walked in and found her cousin hitting the girl she’s fucking!?”

When she says that I laugh.

“Rey, did you have to be so blunt?”

“I like to get full impact with my words!”

She definitely does that.

“So how did Lexa react?”

“When she walked in she pulled Anya away from me and while she was doing that I hid in the toilet stall like an idiot…”

The whole situation was very overwhelming and I needed time to process what was happening.

“Then I waited until I thought they’d both left, but Lexa didn't actually leave and I kind of lost it at her…”

“Well Clarke, I’m guessing she forgave you pretty quickly, because you didn’t come back last night?”

“Yeah, she actually forgave me a couple of times!”

When I smirk at her she shakes her head.

“That’s still disgusting Clarke, but continue the story…”

It’s definitely not disgusting.

“I left the bathroom and went and sat on one of the side decks… Lexa found me out there, I apologised for being a bitch and then she helped me with my eye…”

“And then you went back to her cabin to thank her, because you’ve turned into a horny teenage boy that can't keep it in their pants these last few days!?”

When she tosses her pillow at me I laugh.

“Pretty much, we went to a bar on level five first and then we went back to her cabin, but in the middle of the night I woke up with a splitting headache…”

Yesterday was more insane than I would have liked it to be, but hopefully today’s a relatively normal day.

“I ended up throwing up in her bathroom and she found me in there…”

“Were you concussed?”

“I think so, I’ve never felt that way before”

“You should probably go and see someone Clarke, there will be a doctor somewhere on this ship!”

“It’s okay Rey, I feel alright now…”

“Clarke, why didn’t you come and find me!?”

She was sitting with all of the others at the time and I didn’t want to walk back into the lounge area looking like a wounded puppy.

“Rey, you were with everyone else and if I had of walked in there to get you, everything would have turned to shit and I didn’t want that…”

“It’s just going to turn to shit today Clarke, there’s no difference”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that”

She looks confused.

“Rey, I need you to help me lie and say I fell over…”

“No way Clarke! When I see that bitch today I’m going to give her and earful and then toss her stupid ass overboard!”

She said that with a very straight face, so she obviously didn’t mean it to be funny, but it was.

“Rey, we can’t tell Octavia and Lincoln what really happened, it will just cause problems…”

“So she just gets away with punching you in the face!?”

“I’m not going to let that idiot ruin Octavia and Lincoln’s wedding and that’s what will happen if the truth comes out before Saturday!“

Octavia will be really mad if she finds out.

“And it puts Lincoln in a really uncomfortable position…”

“I really hate this plan Clarke!”

“I know, but it’s our only option Rey”

It’s going to hurt my ego to lie and say that I’m uncoordinated and fell like an idiot, but it’s the best option.

“What are you going to say happened?”

“Just that I fell and hit my eye…”

“Okay, well they’re going to ask how?”

“I could say I tripped in the dark and hit my head on something?”

“Clarke you do realise that you’re making yourself look like an idiot and in doing so you’re letting Anya off the hook!?”

“I know, but I’ll just tell O what happened after the wedding and all will be right with the world again”

* * *

“$20 I know what you’re looking at right now?”

“Raven, she is so hot!”

She’s walking around in the most incredible green bikini.

“Clarke, you are aware that she’s looked the exact same way the whole time we’ve known her right?”

Yes, but I see her very differently now.

“And that most of the time when you do see her she’s in swimming attire and hanging around near water?”

“It’s not the same when she’s wearing a swim cap and a one piece swimsuit!”

This is a much better look.

“O’s walking over!”

When I look over to where Raven’s looking I notice O straight away.

“I’m going to leave you to it Clarke”

Of course she is.

“Thanks for the support Rey!”

“You’re welcome!"

When O gets to where we’re sitting Rey jumps up and lets O take her spot.

“I’m going to go and get food O, I’ll be right back”

I don't know where's she actually going to go, but we ate before we came out to the pool area.

“Hey Grif, where did you get to last night?”

“I went for a quick power nap and ended up sleeping right through”

I’m wearing sunglasses that cover most of my eye, but you can still tell that it isn't right.

So when I look over at her she immediately lifts up my glasses.

“Clarke, what happened to your eye?”

“I’m so sorry O! I got up to use the bathroom last night and I tripped on some clothes that I left lying at the end of the bed…”

“And you hit your eye?”

“Yeah, on the chair”

There’s a little desk area outside the bathroom, so it’s a believable lie.

“Damn Clarke!”

“I’m really sorry O…”

“Clarke, you don’t need to apologise, are you alright?”

“Yeah, it looks worse than it is!"

“Wow! I would have put money on something like this happening to Raven, not you”

When she says that I laugh.

“Clarke, you’re meant to be the coordinated one…”

“I know, but those cabins get really dark at night and of course when I fall there's a chair in the way..."

“Did it hurt?”

“Yeah a little, but it wasn’t too bad”

“Clarke, that’s crazy!”

“I know and I feel really horrible O... I’ll make sure I get some of that bruising cream when we get back to LA and hopefully by Saturday the swelling’s all gone and the bruising can be covered up with makeup…”

“Clarke, it's okay honestly it’s better for me if you look like a freak anyway! No bride wants their bridesmaids looking better than them”

When she starts laughing I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

“O, I can trip Raven over tonight so we're both matching If that helps?"


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,
> 
> A big thank you to everyone who has left kudos and comments.
> 
> This chapter brings up the 25,000 word mark.
> 
> As always thanks for reading and enjoy the newest chapter!
> 
> Amateurhour87

**Lexa’s P.O.V**

“I haven’t seen Anya since we boarded yesterday"

That's not surprising.

She's probably avoiding him because she thinks he knows what happened last night.

"She could have bailed yesterday when we were all getting back on the ship...."

"That wouldn't surprise me Linc, she's probably on a bus back to LA right now"

He’s laughing, but if he knew what Anya had actually been up to since we got back on the ship, he’d be wishing she did find alternate transport home.

“So I was just over there talking to Octavia and Clarke and Clarke has a black eye…”

This is going to test my acting skills.

“Apparently, she tripped in the dark and hit her eye on a chair”

That’s a pretty convincing story, I’m impressed.

“Is Octavia pissed?”

“Why would she pissed?”

‘Because her bridesmaid has a black eye and there's only three days until the wedding?"

I don’t think there are a lot of brides that would be happy about that.

“Oh right... Nah, she doesn’t care it’s not like Clarke deliberately gave herself a black eye”

I’m trying to come across as nonchalant as I can so this lie works, but I really hate lying to him.

“Lexa, is there anything I should know?”

“About what?”

A part of me thinks that if Anya is going to throw punches, she should just deal with the fallout.

But Clarke's right, Lincoln and Octavia shouldn't have to worry about this before the wedding.

“It’s pretty coincidental don’t you think?”

It’s very coincidental.

“Lincoln, I’m not following?”

“Clarke and Anya get into an argument yesterday and today Clarke’s walking around with a black eye?”

“Why would Clarke lie about what happened?”

I’m going to hurt Anya when I see her.

It’s so annoying that this is happening on the last day.

All she had to do was bite her tongue and not start any shit for three more days and the wedding would be over.

It’s not that hard.

“You’re right…”

“Relax Linc!”

When I grab his shoulder he smiles.

“Everything’s going to be alright!”

I can see Raven walking towards us and I'm really hoping that she's going to make a last minute turn and end up somewhere else.

“Lexa, are you buying drinks for everyone!?”

No such luck.

“I am, I just ordered you a shot of peroxide!”

“Lexa, hydrogen peroxide is rapidly decomposed in the human body, so it only has short term effects”

I always forget that she’s really smart, probably because she acts like such an idiot all of the time.

“Reyes, you’re such a nerd!”

“True, but I’m a hot nerd Lexa, so it’s okay!”

Gross.

Her mouth makes her very unattractive.

“Raven, if you want something to drink the guy still has my card?”

“It’s okay Lincoln, I’ll grab my own”

When he turns around to grab his card from the waiter Raven glances over at me.

“Lexa, are you going to come over?”

Definitely not.

“Maybe in a bit Linc…”

“Alright, well if you see Anya can you tell her that I'm looking for her?"

“Yeah, I’ll let her know”

When he walks away Raven's demeanour instantly changes.

"Lexa, you and I need to talk!"

"No we don't!"

I don't care what she thinks about Clarke and I sleeping together.

"Just shut up and listen Lexa and you can do whatever you want with the information I give you"

Now she has me.a little curious.

“Clarke’s not in a good place right now and she hasn’t been since her dad died… She puts on this front like everything’s okay, but it's not and I don’t know what it is that you two are doing, but if you care about her at all Lexa, you’ll get Anya to back off!”

“It’s only been a few months Raven, she’s allowed to not be okay”

It’s normal to grieve.

“In Ensenada, she told Jaha that’s she wasn't going back to Phoenix and she didn’t need him to coach her anymore…”

Changing your program and coach this close to a major swim meet is very risky.

“Does she have another coach that she’s going to work with in LA?”

“No”

No?

“There’s no other coach Lexa and she hasn’t made any plans for when we get back to LA”

That’s insane.

“That doesn’t make any sense Raven, we have Nationals in a couple of weeks?”

She needs a coach.

“She’s considering quitting!”

What!?

There’s no way she’d quit this close to Nationals.

“Raven, why are you telling me this?”

It doesn't make any sense.

“Because the last thing she needs right now is Anya causing her any more problems…’

“I get that, but why are you telling me all of the other stuff about Phoenix and Jaha?”

She’s gone quiet and Raven never goes quiet.

“Raven, she won’t want me to know any of that…”

“And I don’t want her to quit! So you can do whatever you want with that information Lexa, but just make sure that 'psycho' stays away from her or I swear to god I will make her life a living hell”

When she walks away I’m a little bewildered.

That was a lot of information to process and not at all what I was expecting when she walked over.

* * *

“Well this is a little different, usually it’s you finding me out here”

When she sits down on the edge of the lounge chair beside mine I smile.

I was so in the zone I didn’t even notice her walking out here.

“Lexa, are you alright?”

“Yeah... What are you doing out here?”

“You’re in my spot”

She's definitely a lot happier today than she was yesterday.

“Clarke, can I ask you something?”

“Sure…”

When I sit up and move so I’m facing her my knee brushes against hers.

“Is this too close?”

When I wave my hand between us she laughs.

“Clarke, I’m only asking because I know how much you value your personal space…”

“You’re an idiot Lexa!?”

“You don’t want to pull your chair back?”

The other day when we were sitting out here she pulled her chair back.

But in her defense, our chairs were a lot closer than they are now.

“Lexa, you wanted to ask me something?”

I do, but how I ask is what I need to figure out.

“Yeah, it’s nothing serious… I just haven’t asked you how all of your swimming is going?”

When I say that she shakes her head and instantly looks irritated.

“So, that’s what you and Raven were talking about?”

I may as well get straight to the point now, the subtle approach didn’t work.

“What’s the plan Clarke?”

“It’s all sorted Lexa… Everything’s fine!”

That wasn’t even the slightest bit convincing.

“You fired Jaha and told him you weren’t coming back to Phoenix?”

We haven’t had any phone reception the entire time we’ve been on the ship, but in Ensenada we briefly had reception again and she used that time to fire her coach.

  
Everything's clearly not fine.  
  
  


“We have the biggest swim meet of our lives in a couple of weeks and you’ve fired your coach?”

I’m not expecting her to answer me.

Her walls have come up and it’s pretty obvious she doesn’t want to talk about this with me.

“Look Clarke, I know you’re struggling and you’re missing your dad, but do you think this is what he’d want you to do?”

“What he’d want is for that drunk idiot to not get behind the wheel of a fucking car and run him over!”

When she says that I feel horrible.

“Clarke, life can really suck sometimes and I get it!”

I know what it’s like to lose a parent.

“I lost both my parents when I was 12…”

This isn’t a story I like to share, but she needs to understand that things will get better with time.  
  
  


She'll regret it for the rest of her life if she throws away everything she's worked for.

“We didn’t have any money growing up so we lived in this old run down apartment building just outside of Polis…”

The apartment didn't have a lot of space.

“My dad used to work night shift and it was normal for him to get back after midnight, but on this particular night it was closer to two when he got home and I just remember him running into the apartment and screaming so my mother and I would wake up and when I did I could instantly smell the smoke…”

When he came running through the door the whole apartment filled with smoke.

“Everything just happened so fast and within seconds I went from sleeping to being dragged out of the apartment by my parents…”

I’ll never forget that night.

“We only made it about five levels down when my dad suddenly stopped… We’d somehow all become disconnected and my mother wasn’t behind us anymore, so he told me to keep running and he went back for her…”

That was the last time I saw him alive.

“So I did, I sprinted down the stairs and when I got to the bottom all I could see was smoke and it was so blinding that I accidentally went through a broken window instead of the main door... That’s how I got the scar you asked me about on my hip…”

It’s a permanent reminder of that night.

“They never made it out and I lost both my parents that night, because the city allowed us to live in a building that didn’t meet code and had owners who never bothered to check and see if the fire alarms on the roof actually worked!”

“Lexa, I had no idea… I’m so sorry…”

When she reaches for my hand, I force a smile.

“Clarke, I didn’t tell you that so you’d feel sorry for me... I just want you to understand that I get it, I get the way you’re feeling and it sucks, but eventually it does get better”

She just needs to give herself time.

“And that night when they didn't follow me out of the building I felt like I had nothing left and a part of me wished that I hadn’t made it out as well, but then Indra and Gustus took me in and helped me change my whole perspective on everything…”

They would have wanted me to live my life.

“My dad didn’t risk his life to save me and my parents didn’t sacrifice everything they sacrificed for me growing up so I could just quit and not make the most of the life I have… and I didn’t know your dad Clarke, but I’m pretty sure he’d want the best for you as well and that isn’t giving up on everything you’ve worked so hard for”

He’d want her to live her life to the fullest, not just give up.

“Lexa, it means a lot that you’re trusting me with something so personal, but why?”

“Because I care Clarke and I know exactly how you're feeling right now…”

I don’t want her to throw away everything that she’s worked for.

"But you'll regret it for the rest of your life if you quit and he wouldn't want you to do that"

When she leans forward and wraps her arms around me I hug her back.

“Lexa, I haven’t actually quit anything yet…”

“You fired your coach and told him you’re not going back to Phoenix?”

“Yeah, but Jaha’s a pain in the ass and I don’t want to be so far away from home anymore”

When she pulls back she cups my cheek in her hand.

"Lexa, everything just feels like hard work lately and what you said is right, he wouldn't want me to quit!... He's the reason I first started swimming and the last thing I want to do is let him down, but getting up and going to the pool at 6AM has become a real chore lately and being in Phoenix just isn't working for me anymore..."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know..."

"Just don't quit okay!?"

When she leans forward and presses her lips against mine I’m a little surprised.

This is the first time that she's kissed me in such a public spot.

Anyone could walk out those doors and see us.

"Lexa?"

"Mhmm..."

"You need to sit back on that chair properly"

"Are you not a fan of our current position?"

"No..."

When I reposition myself she quickly moves so she's straddling my legs.

"This is much better!"

“Clarke, anyone could walk out those doors and see us..."

"I know and I really don't care right now"


	19. Chapter 19

**Clarke’s P.O.V**

“Lexa, I’m kind of regretting starting this with you here”

I’m such a goner.

I kind of suspected I was yesterday, but today there’s no turning back.

I have no self discipline at all when I’m around her.

“I’m okay with it”

She’s smirking at me and it’s only making me want to keep doing this more.

“Lexa, do you think someone actually monitors that camera?”

I watch her as she glances over at the camera they have mounted to the side of the ship.

“Probably not and right now I don’t really care if they do”

When she cups my cheek in her hand and starts kissing me again I close my eyes.

I’m so screwed.

How am I meant to exhibit any sort of self control when she’s being like this?

“Lexa...”

I really can’t do this with her here.

“We should stop”

When she rests her head back against the chair I smile.

“Sorry… I’ve just never been someone that does this kind of stuff in public”

I like privacy, I like knowing that no one’s going to interrupt us and technically we’re alone right now, but anyone could walk out those doors and see us.

“It’s okay, do you want to go somewhere else?”

That’s a very tempting offer.

“I really do Lexa, but we shouldn’t”

I’ve been sneaking off a lot these last few days.

“It’s the last day and I should probably stop avoiding my friends…”

“Clarke, if they were my friends I’d avoid them permanently!”

“Yes, but you’ve also spent the entire trip avoiding everyone, so I’m not going to take advice on avoiding people from you”

“I haven’t been avoiding you…”

That’s true.

“I’ve actually been giving you a lot of attention!”

When she slips her fingers under the string that’s holding my bikini together I smile.

“Okay Lexa, I need to move away from you!”

That wasn't very smooth, I just stood up so quickly that I looked like a cat that's been spooked.

“Clarke, will I be seeing you tonight?”

She’ll definitely be seeing me tonight.

“Have you spoken to Lincoln about tonight?”

There’s a farewell deck party tonight and we’re all meant to be going.

“Clarke, I don’t usually ask Lincoln’s permission before I sleep with girls, but I can if it would make you feel better?”

She’s such a smart ass, but I like that about her now.

“I was talking about the deck party that we’re all meant to be going to tonight”

She clearly hasn’t heard about it.

“Clarke, I’m very busy today and I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it”

“Lexa, have you got 'big' plans to do nothing today?”

“Yeah and I think me doing nothing is going to take up most of the night as well”

When she stands up and starts readjusting her bikini I smile.

“Just most of the night?”

“Well Clarke that will depend on you…”

She already knows that I’ll be there.

I’ve made it very obvious these last few days how much I like sleeping with her.

“I’ll come by after the deck party, that you’re too busy for…”

“Alright, well I’m going to go”

“Lexa?”

When she tries to walk by me I step in front of her.

“Thank you for before”

It means a lot that she told me that story.

“It wouldn’t have been easy for you to tell me all of that…”

When she leans forward and gently brushes her lips against mine I smile.

“Clarke, just don’t do anything stupid alright?”

“I won’t...”

“Okay well... I’ll see you later”

* * *

“Damn Clarke!”

When I sit down in the tub across from Bellamy he leans across to look at my eye.

“That’s a decent black eye!”

“You know me Bell, I don’t like to do things half assed”

It’s a little swollen and the light purple colour seems to be getting darker and darker as the day progresses.

“I’m going to need to get some magic cream when we get back to LA and hope the swelling and bruising goes down before Saturday…”

“Octavia’s not your typical bride, she won’t care if you have a black eye, she’ll probably be proud”

Octavia started taking Jiu-Jitsu classes when she met Lincoln.

So over the years she’s had her fair share of bruises, but I really doubt that she’s going to be impressed by this one when her wedding is in three days.

“Is there actually a cream you can get for bruising or was the magic cream thing a joke?”

“No, there’s an actual cream that helps reduce swelling and bruising…”

“Wow! I did not know that”

“I’ve never actually used it before Bell, but it definitely exists and hopefully it can work miracles on this monstrosity on my eye”

When he starts laughing I splash water in his direction.

“Clarke, you’re meant to be the coordinated one…”

“I know, but the cabins get really dark at night!”

I just need to survive the afternoon and then everyone will lose interest in my eye and focus on something else.

“So, how’s that single cabin of yours working out Bell?”

He’s grinning.

“There was a small bit of success last night…”

He’s looking very happy with himself.

“You found someone on this ship that was willing to sleep with you?”

Bellamy’s a nice guy, he’s easy to talk, he’s in great shape and he’s not bad to look at if you’re into that kind of thing.

So it’s not really that surprising that he found someone.

“Not quite…”

“So you could have saved your cash and shared a cabin with Finn?”

“There was no way I was sharing with Finn! I like having my own space and these cabins on this ship are way too small to share with someone you’re not sleeping with”

He’s right, they are quite small, but I shared a dorm room with Raven in college so I’m used to living in tight spaces with her.

That and I’ve probably spent more time 'awake' in Lexa’s room than mine these last few days.

“So apart from the eye Clarke how’s everything else going with you?”

“It’s good…”

“Are you all ready for Nationals?”

“I’ve still got a couple of weeks of training, but everything’s on track”

I just need a new coach and a new training facility,

No biggie.

"It's so awesome that it's in Vegas!"

When he says that I laugh.

"It's going to be a lot more fun for you than me Bellamy"

I won't be drinking until after my races.

"Don't worry Grif, we'll save most of the fun for after you make the team!"

Baby steps.

There's a lot I need to organise and do before I can put myself in a position to make that team.


End file.
